The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (1974)

Director Werner Herzog's 1974 West German production The Enigma of Kasper Hauser is based on a true story that is well known in Germany but far less so outside of it. On May 26th 1828 in the town of Nuremburg a teenage boy was found carrying a letter addressed to the captain of the 4th squadron of the 6th cavalry regiment, Captain von Wessenig. In addition to that letter was another one reporting to be from its barriers mother, the two letters combined conveyed the story that the young man, named Kasper Hauser, was the son of a cavalry officer who had died while the boy was in infancy, and as a result his mother had entrusted the child to the care of unnamed individuals who kept him locked in a dungeon with little to no human contact for the bulk of his life, eventually choosing to deposit him in the middle of Nuremburg.

At the time of his appearance Kasper spoke only around a dozen words, and had essentially no concept of almost anything having to do with the world, be that fire, most animals, or food other then bread and water. Kasper quickly became a celebrity in both Germany and abroad and eventually ended up in the care of Georg Friedrich Daumer, a school teacher and philosopher under whose tutelage Kasper excelled and eventually became a shocking skilled artist (see link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspar_Hauser#/media/File:Mill_pencil_drawing_by_Kaspar_Hauser,_1829.jpg). Kasper even started work on an autobiography before dying as the result of a mysterious stabbing in December of 1833.

Owing to the highly unusual nature of Kasper's story, and the extent to which he quickly adapted to a world of which he reportedly had next to no knowledge, the truthfulness of Mr. Hauser's narrative of himself has been rightly questioned, and remains a subject of dispute to this day. Was Kasper telling the truth, even an exaggerated version thereof, or was this all an elaborate con? In his film Mr. Herzog takes the position that Kasper was at least for the most part being honest about his past, and that his life truly was an odd tragedy. Helping to add to the otherworldly quality of Herzog's film is the casting of the then little known conceptual artist Bruno Schleinstein, billed only as Bruno S. in the film, as Hauser. Schlenistein himself had experienced an unusual and traumatic childhood, had been in an out of mental institutions and was largely self taught. Though considerably older then Hauser lived to be Bruno S. successfully conveys his subjects sense of detached isolation, of having a largely internal life almost incomprehensible to outsiders, and a child like awkward straightforwardness. The film is a meditative piece that like its subject is hard to classify, but certainly an impressive achievement. ****