Lebenszeichen

Werner Herzog's first film is a view into the mindset of the soldier who goes over the brink, but unlike many films that might explore the concept, or even Herzog's own later, arguably greater, Woyzeck, Signs of Life is about a man engulfed by the location. The setting is interesting right away; a stone fortress that men who have been wounded or just put on leave are guarding on a remote Greek island during WW2 (of course, we're never told this, which is appropriate, one can take a guess as to the significance of Herzog's POV as part of the New German cinema), and aside from the cockroaches and painting doors, there's not much to do. The mundane becomes engulfing, even as there's little things to do on the island. It's always bubbling under the surface, and as the days pass and things start to grow more aimless, Stroszek (Peter Brogle, with the kind of eyes and demeanor Kubrick would've loved to film) distances himself, sets of fireworks in his hands, and snaps one day out on patrol.

If anyone knows Herzog, the tale of a man going "berserk", as one officer says in this film of the main character, this shouldn't be seen out of the ordinary. Herzog has always tried to explore not so much of the precise 'whys' of the snap, or the break under pressure, or society's role or those around in personal quarters. Of course it's suggested a lot of the time, but in the case of Signs of Life we see much of the insanity in very long shots, with Stroszek going mad in the last twenty minutes on top of the fortress, wavering around, surrounded still by the immense landscape - an "inner" landscape, mayhap, as Herzog describes so often of his perspective on landscapes - of the fortress set against the background of the sea and mountains. But if one were seeing this as the first feature of some 26 year old Bavarian who only made a few shorts (one of which was similar somewhat to Signs of Life), this would seem like the most unclassifiable "genre" film ever made.

It's a movie about soldiers who don't fight, and with images like cut aways to peasants running and rummaging in the streets, a bird, a bunch of statues, stone tablets. And then when Stroszek does snap, we don't hear any audio, just the intense plucking of the guitar by the Greek composer, as Herzog pans over a whole field of windmills. And where else would one ever see something like when the bald soldier is setting up the trap for the roaches? Or the segway with the guy who thinks that he's a King? The first half of the movie is unsettling because it doesn't seem like it's going anywhere, and yet I kept on wanting to stay with Herzog (not even because I knew where it was going); there's something underneath all of the ho-hum "non" drama that goes on, little bits of behavior in the lackadaisical, that when finally things pick up dramatically it starts slowly, then builds, goes to a peak, and then...

Well, you'll just have to see for yourself. All I know is that you're likely not to see another film like Signs of Life- much less a debut from a major European film artist- where the climax entails fireworks going off while practical martial law is placed over the island. Herzog doesn't follow any rules, and it can get frustrating here and there. But it's also exhilarating, and I would probably count it in my top 10 favorites of the director.

在执导了几部短片之后，赫尔佐格拍摄了这部处女作长片，Signs of life，一个颇具诗意的名字。我总不忍它翻译成中文，扭成一个苍白的答案，它就像片中的碑文一样，没有开头也没有结尾，似乎是在颂扬上帝，却又独守一段悲情。
　　
　　
　　空镜头、画外音、班卓琴，故事就这么开始了。本片的剧情很朴实也很简单，但却不是偏执的新现实主义；本片拍摄手法独特，炎热之下飘荡着万千情愫，却也不是流俗的表现主义。它所蕴含的任性、沉闷、暴躁、伤感让它对一切形而上学和各种主义不屑一顾，它是爱琴海不存在的史诗。
　　
　　
　　90分钟的片长，有一半多的时间都在作铺垫，估计不少没看过剧情简介的人可能对斯特罗斯策克第一次出现发疯都反应不过来吧，可能都快在那闷热的海港生活中睡着了。大部分的讨论都围绕着斯特罗斯策克为什么会发疯而展开，虽然赫尔佐格隐约给出过自己的观点，但这并不妨碍该命题的进一步过度阐释。我并不赞同这是对死气沉沉的宁静和虚伪的幸福生活的反抗这一说法，也不赞同存在主义做出的解释。在我看来，这是斯特罗斯策克无法认同幸福，习惯了痛苦而无法自拔的表现。
　　
　　
　　一个从战场上负伤下来的士兵，突然目睹了硝烟退散，真的会满心欢喜？两个交战中的国家，占领军却和当地百姓相处融洽，还能一起在露天咖啡馆闲坐，仿佛战争不曾发生。贝克每天不是研究碑文就是无聊，文哈德似乎早已习惯了一切，钓鱼，捕捉蟑螂，而斯特罗斯策克的妻子更是想在这里生个孩子。所有人都在安身立命，所有人都忘记了身后的隆隆战火。与落差一样难以接受的是反落差，吃多清淡素菜的人会习惯山珍海味吗？长久孤独的人在面对一份美好恋情时也会退却，只因习惯了形单影只。幸福的生活并非人人向往，也有望而却步的过客。终于，在荒芜的山坡上，看着满目风车的农庄，斯特罗斯策克发疯了。他幻想着那是汹涌而来的千万敌军，他举起枪想要射击，他渴望流血与痛苦。
　　
　　
　　
　　片尾部分我幻想着它要是一部彩色片该多好，这是我看过的电影中最光彩夺目的烟火。然而他并没有击落太阳，秩序也没有被颠覆，他什么都没有做成，只是燃尽了自己的生命。有那么一刻我很希望斯特罗斯策克能跳海自杀，或被同伴的子弹击毙，可幸福也有它残忍与毫不留情的一面，斯特罗斯策克被送上了卡车，结束了这场一个人的战争。清清冷冷的班卓琴声淹没在滚滚尘埃之中，这是一段走不完的路，这是一场最漫长的告别。

4444(创建者)