Signs of Life (Lebenszeichen). Werner Herzog, 1968.
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Edition screened: New Yorker DVD, released 2005. German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 91 minutes.
Summary: Dead animals used for symbolic effect.
Details:
1) Insecticide applied to trapped roaches, 17:18-18:15.
2) A child recites a poem while sitting beside the head and legs of a dismembered goat, 55:56-56:39.
3) A donkey lies dead in a plaza after being shot, 1:03:45-1:03:51.
4) Another brief view of the dead donkey, 1:16:31-1:16:35.
5) The donkey is dragged away, 1:19:38-1:20:17.
Signs of Life, Herzog’s first feature-length film, contains the stylistic fortitude, visual poetry, and social ironies that would bring him fame in ensuing centuries. Signs of Life also debuts the director’s career-long impulse to include animals for meditative content and in juxtaposition to the world of Man, often living but just as often dead, as in this film.
Despite the inclusion of dead animals, Signs of Life is a beautiful, tranquil, and sometimes funny film about a soldier’s struggle to both retain and reject his sanity.