Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) Before you keep reading my review, will you do me a favor. Please shut your eyes and ears for a moment, then go to the fridge, get out something from it. Oh and don't forget washing your hands before that. Did you manage? Now imagine you'd have never seen your fridge in your life. Or heard the water during washing your hands. Or seen the way you went to doing these things. Then you'd roughly have the impression of what life must look like for the people in this 82-minute documentary. German filmmaker Werner Herzog was still in his 20s when he shot this movie here as it was done in 1971 and has its 45th anniversary already this year.Herzog is known to enter worlds that only very few people have seen apart from him. This one is not about a volcano about to erupt on a deserted island, but about the world of silence and darkness, namely about people who are deaf and blind and have been that way for their entire life perhaps. They are certainly living in their own world. And it is a world that society knows about, acknowledges, but does not really want to be a part of. How many people do you know that are deaf and mute? How many people do your friends and family know? They exist, but we do not want to be concerned with them. You could almost say that we exist in a different dimension than they do. And that is why I love Herzog so much. Many people just would not want to get in contact with these people, not because they despise them, but because they wouldn't know how to act towards them. Herzog is not scared at all. He delivers a truly informative and (even more important) touching portrayal of these people. My favorite scene was probably the one with the disabled at the zoo. Could there have anything been better in this film? I really cannot think of anything. I personally love listening to Herzog's voice, but he did not act as narrator yet in his earliest works. Then again, Illig's narration was really not too frequent and that is perfect. In here they let the people tell the story, the people who deal with the blind-deaf on a daily basis. No scientist, no narrator could make more insightful comments on the matter than they could. An outstanding documentary by a brilliant filmmaker. What a year for Herzog. "Fata Morgana" is equally outstanding. Highly recommended and that goes for both documentaries.

Leofwine_draca LAND OF SILENCE AND DARKNESS is an early documentary in the career of German film-maker Werner Herzog, a story laced with sadness and alienation that bears some stylistic similarity to Herzog's dramatic film THE ENIGMA OF KASPAR HAUSER. This one's all real though, a documentary that proves to be depressing and uplifting in equal measure.It's a documentary that explores the world of deafblind people living in Germany, controlled by a campaigning woman, Fini Straubinger, who makes it her business to travel the country and help those in need. What transpires is a travelogue fraught with unforgettable moments; moments that I don't mind admitting had me in tears on more than one occasion. The sequence with a 22 year old man who's never had any education or even contact with the outside world - he can't even walk - is the film's moving highlight.Herzog lets his story speak for himself, although he makes some strong choices as director. Visits to a cactus house and a zoo are utterly engrossing and the addition of some classic music to the soundtrack really helps to tug at the heartstrings. Not an easy film to watch then, but one which is nevertheless thoroughly compelling.

buchass Once again the cult German director Werner Herzog touches deeply in our heart. I think, everyone should see this documentary. Makes us realize that sometimes we should rethink and reevaluate our "insignificant" problems. I say that, cause when i saw "Land of Silence and Darkness", all my "insignificant" problems are nothing in comparison with persons, who could not see, hear and speak. Its a powerful and honest documentary, about a forgotten small portion of persons that live in the edge of existence, they actually live in a innocuous void of "silence and darkness". Werner Herzog give us a masterful piece of documentary without being pretentious or sentimentalist. He simply shows the reality just the away she is. If you like this one, i recommend any other Werner Herzog Documentary.

terry nienhuis This Herzog film is unorthodox, as usual. It is approximately an hour and a half long, and somewhere in the middle it might seem like the film is not going anywhere. However, those who permit themselves to feel the power of this harrowing documentary will discover in the ending of the film a moment well worth their persistence. What is the purpose of mature film making? I like to think it is the sincere attempt to help us understand what it means to be human. If this generalization is accurate, Herzog's LAND OF SILENCE AND DARKNESS is mature film making. It is literally investigating what it means to be human without the sense of sight and speech. It has a heroic figure in 56-year old Fini Straubinger and a number of other characters who are compellingly mystifying. We wonder what is happening inside the minds of these human beings who are partially cut off from the world around them.