Land of Silence and Darkness
Posted by martinteller on July 27, 2005
One of the most horrifying things to me is the thought of being deaf and blind. Herzog shows several people dealing with this isolation, with varying degrees of success. The central figure, Fini, copes quite easily, communicating with the help of a translator who taps out a remarkably simple series of movements on her hand to indicate certain consonants and vowels. Others fare not so well, especially the unfortunate Vladimir who never received proper training. He’s a haunting character, and slightly reminiscent of another Herzog subject, Kaspar Hauser.
All of the scenes are interesting, but most of them are carried out too long, well beyond the point where they have anything further to offer. This gives the movie an overlong feel, despite its rather short running time. Rating: 7
