Even Dwarfs Started Small

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Even Dwarfs Started Small (German: Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen) is a 1970 West German comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by Werner Herzog.

Contents

1 Plot 2 Production 3 References 4 External links

Plot[edit] A group of dwarfs confined in an institution on a remote island rebel against the guards and director (all dwarfs as well) in a display of mayhem. The dwarfs gleefully break windows and dishes, abandon a running truck to drive itself in circles, engineer food fights and cock fights, set fire to pots of flowers, kill a large pig, torment some blind dwarfs, and perform a mock crucifixion of a monkey. Production[edit] The film was shot on the Canary Islands, at Lanzarote. The film was produced during the same time period as Herzog's Fata Morgana and The Flying Doctors of East Africa, and there are visual and thematic connections between the three works. Notably, the goggles worn by the blind dwarfs are the same style as the goggles which several people wear in Fata Morgana.[1] During the filming, Herzog gave some strange direction to elicit particular performances from the actors. In directing one dwarf who continually struggled not to laugh, Herzog repeatedly told the actor that he must not laugh, but then made funny faces at him as soon as he started filming.[1] While filming the scene where a van drives in circles with no one at the wheel, one of the actors was run over, but immediately stood up uninjured. During the flower burning scene, the same actor caught fire and Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog raced over and beat the fire out. The actor only had minor injuries from the fire. After these two accidents, Herzog promised the actors that if they made it through the rest of filming without any more injuries he would jump into a cactus patch and allow the actors to film him doing so. The film was finished without any further injuries and the director made good his promise and dived into the cacti. Herzog has said, "Getting out was a lot more difficult than jumping in."[2] In the Les Blank
Les Blank documentary Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, Herzog can be seen limping slightly as he exits an airplane, presumably from the cacti incident. The vehicle-in-circles scene was inspired by an incident that occurred when Herzog worked as a steward at the Munich Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest as a young man. Part of his duty was ensuring that drunk patrons did not attempt to drive their cars home, so when a drunk man insisted that he was capable of driving, Herzog got into his car with him, placed the steering wheel on full lock, then got out of his car. The man passed out and the car continued to drive in a circle until it ran out of petrol. References[edit]

^ a b c Werner Herzog, DVD audio commentary for Even Dwarfs Started Small ^ Herzog, Werner (2001). Herzog on Herzog. Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-20708-1.

External links[edit]

Even Dwarfs Started Small on IMDb

v t e

Werner Herzog

Feature films

Signs of Life (1968) Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970) Fata Morgana (1971) Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974) Heart of Glass (1976) Stroszek
Stroszek (1977) Nosferatu the Vampyre
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) Woyzeck (1979) Fitzcarraldo
Fitzcarraldo (1982) Where the Green Ants Dream
Where the Green Ants Dream (1984) Cobra Verde
Cobra Verde (1987) Scream of Stone (1991) Lessons of Darkness
Lessons of Darkness (1992) Invincible (2001) The Wild Blue Yonder
The Wild Blue Yonder (2005) Rescue Dawn
Rescue Dawn (2006) Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? (2009) Queen of the Desert (2015) Salt and Fire
Salt and Fire (2016)