Werner Schroeter is one of the most inspired and evocative filmmakers of his generation. Though he has never attained the popular status of Fassbinder, Wenders or Herzog, his work has established him as one of the most original German film artists and an uncompromised master of vision. Six years after making his last film, Deux, Schroeter returns with the powerful and provocative Nuit de Chien.
Having fought against a fascist party general up in the mountains, forty-year-old Ossorio Vignale arrives at the train station in his hometown late at night. He immediately begins to scour the city in search of the love of his life, Clara, hoping that they will go into exile together on a boat leaving the following day. Much to his horror, Clara has gone missing, and his once-beloved town has been taken over by a terrifying militia led by a rich mercenary named Morasan.
To make matters worse, Ossorio discovers that only one of three expected escape boats is docked, and someone has actually stolen his tickets. Things get even more distressing when Ossorio begins hearing rumours regarding the elusive whereabouts of Clara: she may have fled when the political police outlawed the newspaper where she used to work, fallen in love and left with someone else, or become mentally ill. Worse still, she could have been killed.
Ossorio is finally afforded some respite when he locates his former comrades, but quickly realizes that everyone is a potential threat. Soon enough, he finds himself responsible for a young girl, his friend Barcala's daughter Victoria. Moving from hideaway to hideaway, the duo struggles to escape peril and make their way to the docks, their only chance for survival.
Like much of Schroeter's previous work, Nuit de Chien replaces rational, realistic representation with the grandiose exuberance of a world often found on the walls of art galleries and museums. The extraordinary gift of a new film by Schroeter deserves to take its place in exactly that world.
Dimitri Eipides
Werner Schroeter was born in Thuringia, Germany, and studied psychology at the Universität Mannheim. He worked as a freelance journalist before beginning his career as a writer, director, cinematographer, editor and producer. His films as director include The Death of Maria Malibran (72), Willow Springs (73), The Kingdom of Naples(78), Palermo or Wolfsburg (80), Day of the Idiots (81), Council of Love (82), The Rose King (86), Malina (91), Deux (02) and Nuit de Chien (08).