MovieChat Forums > Warum läuft Herr R. Amok (1977) Discussion > The sadness of that character...

The sadness of that character...

posted 8 years ago by El_Ingeniero
2 replies | jump to latest

I was deeply moved by this film. I understand that it may be dull for some but I found every scene mesmerising in its portray of mundane life; the little details, looks, conversations... every time I watch it I enjoy it more than the last.

Herr R is one of the saddest characters in the history of cinema, beautifully played by Kurt Raab. Both his silences and interventions show different sides to the same coin, a bittterness that ends up engulfing him.

My favourite scene has to be the one at the record store. His naive romanticism met by the silly giggles of those girls at the shop... I felt sorry for him and admired him at the same time for barricading himself in his goal no matter what: to find that song that both him and his wife liked. The scene ends with him closing his eyes to the music playing, and also to those who couldn't or didn't want to empathise with him.

The twist caught me off guard and was the icing on the cake, maybe cause I was enjoying the ride so much that I didn't care for the destination!

Le beau est bizarre

[–] henrimaine 8 years ago

His naive romanticism met by the silly giggles of those girls at the shop

I wonder why those girls were giggling like that. Was the giggling planned by the director and possibly implying that other people didn't take Raab seriously? Or did the girls just start giggling during an improvised scene?

[–] El_Ingeniero 8 years ago

The film dialogue does have that improvised feel, but I doubt the girls would come up with that themselves. The scene revolves primarily around Raab's quest and the girls' reaction to it. It wouldn't work without either, so it must have been in the script.

Raab has two moods: sad/indifferent for most of the film, and happy/engaged on occasion. However, the director kills or dims those nice moments, tainting them with frustration and awkwardness and resulting in a deeply sad picture altogether.

Every time he shows passion or the will to engage, he's crushed. He's laughed at in the shop. When he makes his drunken speech, his boss flees and his wife abuses him cruelly ("the older you get, the more stupid and fatter"(!)). He sings rather nicely with his friend, but instead of showing admiration his wife looks embarrassed and annoyed. At the very beginning, when he dares comment on his wife's friend hair and clothes, they shut him up immediately in a very disdainful way.

Even the scene when Raab plays his record doesn't end well. The whole set up points to eventual love making. Nice music, drinks, kid's in bed, they're only wearing their robes. And yet, their advances are clumsy, forced even. So much so that they end up getting lost in nostalgic remarks about their past love life that make the present look bleak and unappetizing. Their romantic evening has run of steam even before it started.

Le beau est bizarre