Stroszek

Stroszek
Promotional poster
Directed by	Werner Herzog
Produced by	Werner Herzog
Written by	Werner Herzog
Starring	Bruno S. Eva Mattes Clemens Scheitz
Music by	Chet Atkins Sonny Terry
Cinematography	Thomas Mauch
Edited by	Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus
Production company	Werner Herzog Filmproduktion ZDF
Distributed by	Werner Herzog Filmproduktion
Release date	January 12, 1977 (1977-01-12)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	Germany
Language	German English

Stroszek is a 1977 film by German director Werner Herzog. Written specifically for Bruno S., the film was shot in Berlin, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. Most of the lead roles are played by non-actors.

Bruno Stroszek (Bruno S.) is a Berlin street performer. Released from prison and warned to stop drinking, he immediately goes to a familiar bar where he comforts Eva (Eva Mattes), a prostitute down on her luck, and lets her stay with him at the apartment his landlord kept for him. They are then harried and beaten by Eva's former pimps, who insult Bruno, pull his accordion apart and humiliate him by making him kneel on his grand piano with bells balanced on his back. Faced with the prospect of further harassment, Bruno and Eva decide to leave Germany and accompany Bruno's eccentric elderly neighbour Scheitz (Clemens Scheitz), who was planning to move to Wisconsin to live with his American nephew Clayton.

After sightseeing in New York City they buy a used car and arrive in a winter-bound, barren prairie near the fictional town of 'Railroad Flats'. There Bruno works as a mechanic with Clayton and his Native American helper, Eva as a waitress at a truck stop and Scheitz pursues his interest in animal magnetism. The pair buy a trailer which is sited on Clayton's land, but as bills mount, the bank threatens to repossess it. Eva falls back into prostitution to supplement her wages, but it is not enough to meet the payments. She tires of Bruno's drunken ramblings and deserts him by leaving with a couple of truck drivers bound for Vancouver.