When Woyzeck returns to the crime scene at the end of the film, he throws the knife into the river. He then jumps into the river to find the knife again. I cannot tell, but does Woyzeck die at the end of the film? Does he drown in the river or does he escape? He seems to be struggling in the water, but then the scene ends and the movie moves on to the final scene. Does anybody have any ideas, or is Herzog trying to keep it a mystery?
shareIt seemed clear to me that he drowned when I first saw the film, although I can see it's ambiguous. From what I've read since, it seems it was probably Buchner's intent to have him drown, although this is ambiguous too, as the play wasn't finished, and earlier drafts had Woyzeck arrested nd sentenced to death.
You see? I'm a steelworker. I kill what I eat. See?
WOW. Interesting subject. I've seen the movie a half dozen times and I never got that interpretation (although now I'll have to watch it again). I always saw that scene as a metaphor of a man slowly sinking in dark waters...not literally speaking but psychologically.
Following a powerful concluding statement like that I think it's unnecessary to say any more. Compare it with the end of Aguirre (which I won't spoil, but if you've seen it, you'll know what I'm talking about).
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In the opera Wozzeck (based on Buchner), the Captain and Doctor pass after Woyzeck has gone into the water. They have heard something, like the sound of a man drowning, but the sound soon stops. They hurry away in fear.
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Büchner never completed the play (and died only 24 years old), it was left in a box in some attic and parts of it got eaten by rats(!). The script is based on a real events: "The play is loosely based on the true story of Johann Christian Woyzeck, a Leipzig wigmaker who murdered Christiane Woost, a widow with whom he had been living, in a fit of jealousy in 1821 and was subsequently publicly decapitated." quoting wikipedia. I find it likley that Büchner intended his Woyzeck to meet his death the same way as the real one, but that is just me speculating and we will never know. Anyway, I hope this info might be of some value :)
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There are no clear evidences about Woyzeck drowning in the river. However since we don't get to see him again in the movie, Woyzeck dying in the river is a valid theory.
Anyway Woyzeck was doomed; either he drowned or commited suicide or later was found guilty of Marie's assasination. There was plenty of evidence against him: The blood on his shirt, the fact that he had a reason to kill her (She was cheating him with the drum major), his "weird" behaviour, etc.
Some translations of the play strongly suggest that he drowns in the river, and I think that's what Herzog was going for in the film. Of course, it's really up each individual interpretation.
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