Curious film about a guy who murders his mother. After a trip to Peru, he starts to hear a voice in his head, a voice he must follow at all times. His behaviour turns stranger and stranger, a fixation for birds (ostriches, flamengo's ("eagles in drag")) a Greek tragedy in which he murders his mother again...
Told in flashbacks while the police surrounds his house in San Diego.
The acting is far from spectacular. It doesn't seem to be the point. All characters are fairly flat. It is the mood, the scene that the director seems interested in. Not very plot-driven, no "why did he do it"; though in script this is made clear time and again, it is the backdrop of a man who does what he must do, who goes his own, unpredictable, strange way, and that is what Herzog wants to paint for the viewer.
One could argue that the lack of depth in most characters and their absence of acting qualities was done on purpose. It is a painting and only the viewer is real but will start to doubt himself and the world at the same time.
I'm rambling. It is a slow picture and I enjoyed it. Not something I soon will watch again, but interesting enough. A good picture when you are thinking about stories, people, the world they inhabit.
Some quite interesting score-pieces from Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger, worth to take another look at.
Interviews and reviews describe it as a "character study" with a lot of poetic freedom and a love for the absurd. Everybody loves the "first-class actors", so am I too shallow in my description of them? My main problem was the absence of change, they all held steadfast to the kind of character in which they enter the film.
Ps: it seems that Michael Shannon also played in "Bug", which was of course amazing.
Even after reading a few interviews, I still miss the arc. He is never shown as a truly "loving son", why does Ingrid even fall in love with him? Lee, the theatre director is the only one who creates a personal arc of him by describing him as a very talented actor yet very problematic to work with.
