Signs of Life (1968 film)

{{Short description|1968 film}} {{Infobox film | name = Signs of Life | image = signs of life cover.jpg | director = Werner Herzog | producer = Werner Herzog | writer = Werner Herzog | editing = Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus | cinematography = Thomas Mauch | starring = Peter Brogle <br> Wolfgang Reichmann <br> Athina Zacharopoulou <br> Wolfgang von Ungern-Sternberg | music = Stavros Xarhakos | released = {{Film date|1968|06||Berlin Film Festival|1968|07|05|Germany}} | runtime = 87 minutes | country = West Germany | language = German }}

'''''Signs of Life''''' ({{langx|de|'''Lebenszeichen'''}}) is a 1968 feature film written, directed, and produced by Werner Herzog. It was his first feature film, and his first major commercial and critical success. The story is roughly based on the short story "Der Tolle Invalide auf dem Fort Ratonneau" by Achim von Arnim.<ref>{{cite book | last = Herzog | first = Werner | title = Herzog on Herzog | publisher = Faber and Faber | date = 2001 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/herzogonherzog00herz/page/38 38] | isbn = 0-571-20708-1 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/herzogonherzog00herz/page/38 }}</ref>

==Plot== During World War II, three German soldiers are assigned to guard a depot of unusable munitions in an old fort in a small coastal community on the Greek island of Kos. One, Stroszek, has been given this tranquil role as he had been wounded. He has married a local woman who nursed him, Nora, and she lives with them and cooks for them. The men become increasingly stir crazy in their monotonous assignment, with almost no interactions, activities or duties. Stroszek behaves increasingly erratically and eventually starts shooting at people and threatening to detonate the depot.

==Cast== * Peter Brogle - Stroszek * Wolfgang Reichmann - Meinhard * Athina Zacharopoulou - Nora * Wolfgang von Ungern-Sternberg - Becker * Wolfgang Stumpf - Captain * Henry van Lyck - Lieutenant * Julio Pinheiro - Gypsy * Florian Fricke - Pianist * Heinz Usener - Doctor * Achmed Hafiz - Greek resident

==Production== The fortress which gives the film's main setting is a real 14th-century fortress built by the Knights Hospitaller. Herzog's grandfather, Rudolf Herzog, lived and worked for several years as an archaeologist at this site, and published translations of the ancient Greek engravings which appear in the film. The old Turkish man who appears in the film with a written translation was the last surviving worker from Rudolf Herzog's archaeological project.<ref name="dvd">Werner Herzog, audio commentary for ''Signs of Life'' DVD</ref>

During several shots, Peter Brogle could only be filmed from the waist up after he had been injured in a tight-rope accident and spent several months in a walking cast.<ref name="dvd"/> The man who appears as a pianist in one scene is keyboardist Florian Fricke of Popol Vuh, who composed and performed the music for many of Herzog's later films.

==Themes== Many of Herzog's later films reference elements of ''Signs of Life''. ''Stroszek'' includes a scene with a hypnotized chicken and the main character's name is reused. ''The Wild Blue Yonder'' contains a shot of a valley of windmills.

==Critical responses== The film was entered into the 18th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the Jury.<ref name="berlinale 1968">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1968/03_preistr_ger_1968/03_Preistraeger_1968.html |title=Berlinale 1968: Prize Winners |access-date=2010-03-03 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref> The film won a German Film Award.

''Signs of Life'' has a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Signs of Life|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1062610-signs_of_life|access-date=2021-10-11|website=Rotten Tomatoes}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb title|title=Lebenszeichen|id=0063218}}

Category:1968 films Category:1968 black-and-white films Category:1968 drama films Category:German drama films Category:West German films Category:1968 German-language films Category:West German black-and-white films Category:Films directed by Werner Herzog Category:German World War II films Category:Films set in Greece Category:Films set on islands Category:Films set in the Mediterranean Sea Category:Films shot in Crete Category:Films about mental health Category:Films based on short fiction Category:Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winners Category:1968 directorial debut films Category:1968 German films Category:German-language drama films