Invincible (2001 drama film)
| Invincible | |
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| Directed by | Werner Herzog |
| Produced by | Gary Bart Werner Herzog Christine Ruppert Lucki Stipetić Paul Webster |
| Written by | Werner Herzog |
| Starring |
Tim Roth Jouko Ahola Anna Gourari |
| Music by |
Klaus Badelt Hans Zimmer |
| Cinematography | Peter Zeitlinger |
| Edited by | Joe Bini |
| Distributed by |
Channel Four Films (UK) Fine Line Features (US) |
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Release date
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Running time
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133 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom Germany Ireland United States |
| Language | English |
Invincible (German: Unbesiegbar) is a 2001 drama film written and directed by Werner Herzog. The film stars Tim Roth, Jouko Ahola, Anna Gourari, and Max Raabe. The film tells the story of a Jewish strongman in Germany. While basing his story on the real-life figure Zishe Breitbart (aka Siegmund Breitbart) Herzog uses the bare facts of Breitbart's life to weave fact and fiction (e.g., the story is set in 1932 Berlin, a full seven years after Breitbart's death in 1925) to create an allegory of human strength, knowing oneself with honesty and pride in one's heritage.
The film features original score composed by German film composer Hans Zimmer, co-written with fellow composer Klaus Badelt. Along with films like The Pledge (also co-written with Zimmer) this marks one of the first projects of Badelt into the feature film industry, and one of several collaborations with Herzog as well.
Zishe Breitbart (Jouko Ahola) is the son of an Orthodox Jewish blacksmith in rural Poland. He is fantastically strong, largely from working at hard labor all day. A talent agent sees how strong Breitbart is in his Jewish shtetl home and convinces him to move to Berlin, where he can find work as a strongman.
Hanussen (an allusion to the real-life figure Erik Jan Hanussen, played by Tim Roth), an epic con-man and supposed mystic, runs a cabaret variety show. Hanussen gives Breitbart a blonde wig and a Nordic helmet and calls him "Siegfried" so as to identify him with the Aryan notion of physical superiority. This appeals to the largely Nazi clientele, and he is a big hit.
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