[Movie] The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

Kaspar Hauser (1812-1833) was a German youth who mysteriously appeared in Nuremberg in 1828, exhibiting signs of stunted physical and mental development, and carrying an anonymous letter explaining that he had lived his life in near-total isolation. Doctors considered him a "feral child"; Romantics thought him a "noble savage"; others suspected that he was an impostor.

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser tells his story: "a primal Bildungsroman" of acculturation (ala Pierre's Isabel). It is widely considered Werner Herzog's most poignant and humane masterpiece, offering a profound meditation on what it means to be human. The movie won the Grand Jury Prize, the Critic's Prize and the Ecumenical Prize at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival, and is included on Roger Ebert's list of "Great Movies."

About the movie:

• Runtime: 1h 50m
• Year: 1974
• Unrated Content Advisory
• Language: German with English subtitles
• Starring: Bruno S., Walter Ladengast, Brigitte Mira
• Director: Werner Herzog
• Trailer: The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

This meetup will consist of a live viewing, accompanied by discussion and analysis.

Extracts:

• "Casper Hauser." (The Confidence-Man, 2)
• "Had Milton’s been the lot of Caspar Hauser, Milton would have been vacant as he. For though the naked soul of man doth assuredly contain one latent element of intellectual productiveness; yet never was there a child born solely from one parent; the visible world of experience being that procreative thing which impregnates the muses; self-reciprocally efficient hermaphrodites being but a fable." (Pierre, 18.1)
• "To any stray inheritor of these primitive qualities found, like Caspar Hauser, wandering dazed in any Christian capital of our time, the good-natured poet’s famous invocation... still appropriately holds: Honest and poor, faithful in word and thought, / What hath thee, Fabian, to the city brought?" (Billy Budd, 2)
• “I have always been, and feel that I must always continue to be a child." (Pierre, 8.2)

This meetup is part of the series Circuses and Snake Oil.