Heart of Glass - when Werner Herzog hypnotised his actors

Published by Reblogs - Credits in Posts, April 9th, 2023

(Credits: Far Out / Werner Herzog Filmproduktion)

'Heart of Glass': when Werner Herzog hypnotised his actors

Fri 24th Mar 2023 22.00 GMT

Since the very beginning of his remarkable career, Werner Herzog has never been afraid to take risks while chasing after a higher form of artistic truth. Having created pioneering masterpieces such as Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Stroszek, Herzog has constantly strived to stay faithful to his unique vision of cinema. That’s exactly why the great François Truffaut once referred to the German auteur as "the most important film director alive".

Throughout his groundbreaking career, Herzog has attempted many unthinkable experiments – including risking his life for a documentary about a volcano. Despite the fact that he has a lot of insane production stories, very few of them can compare to the craziness of the film where he hypnotised his actors. Almost all of the actors in every single scene delivered the strangest performances under hypnosis, contributing to one of the most bizarre movies ever made.

Titled Heart of Glass, Herzog’s 1976 work is probably the closest he has come to achieving his idea of true cinema. Set in a small Bavarian town in the 18th century, the film captures a unique period of transition which is crystallised between the past and the future. This theme of crystallisation is further enforced by the narrative focus on the town’s glassblowing factory, where nobody seems to be able to master the art of making ruby glass after the death of the expert glassblower.

Partially based on the writings of Herbert Achternbusch, Herzog drew his inspiration from an obscure Bavarian prophet called Mühlhiasl, who is depicted in the film as Hias. While Hias’ prophecies are about the downfall of the small town in Heart of Glass, it’s almost impossible not to read his ominous warnings as critiques of a dark future ushered in by the despair of modernity.

One of Herzog’s disciples, Alan Greenberg, actually witnessed the hypnosis sessions on set. He recalled: "In two minutes, all four farmers were deeply hypnotised. Recognising this, Herzog gave them their acting directions. He told them that they stood on heavenly ground, but when they opened their eyes they would see a land troubled by terrible Giants. They would be so frightened, he went on, that their lips would twitter and their limbs would shake. But he assured them that no matter how fearsome things might seem, they would be quite safe and well-protected and could speak their lines with no trouble whatsoever."

This approach to acting is hard to imagine, but Herzog managed to pull it off by making sure that the actors memorised their dialogue while they were put under hypnosis. In addition to Herzog’s expectations of his actors, the crew were also surprised to see that many of the actors had random movements and reactions during the production. That’s probably why Heart of Glass is a cinematic masterpiece like no other, effortlessly burrowing into the mysterious structures that govern our subconscious.