Comments on: The Rock + Klaus Kinski = Lust: Jerking Off To Genre http://blog.spout.com/2008/09/03/the-rock-klaus-kinski-lust-jerking-off-to-genre/ Daily coverage of what is truly interesting in the film world Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:59:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Cora http://blog.spout.com/2008/09/03/the-rock-klaus-kinski-lust-jerking-off-to-genre/#comment-113849 Cora Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:42:12 +0000 http://blog.spout.com/?p=4489#comment-113849 No problem. I'm always happy to pimp the IMO underrated German films of the 1950s and 1960s. Two more excellent Kinski performances from the same period can be found in <i>The Indian Scarf</i> (Das indische Tuch) from 1963 and <i>The Strange Countess</i> (Die seltsame Gräfin) from 1961. <i>The Indian Scarf</i> is a fairly standard "And then there were none" type of plot, in which a wacky aristocratic clan gathers on an isolated island for a will reading and someone begins whacking them off one by one. Kinski plays an illegitimate son, who is despised by the family and may or may not be a drug addict. Also features Hans Clarin, known to German audiences as a comedian and cartoon voice actor, as the deranged half-brother of Kinski's character. In <i>The Strange Countess</i> Kinski plays a mental patient who escapes from a psychiatric facility and tries to kill a young woman, because he has been led to believe that killing her will cure him from his illness. Also features silent film diva Lil Dagover as the main villainness. No problem. I’m always happy to pimp the IMO underrated German films of the 1950s and 1960s.

Two more excellent Kinski performances from the same period can be found in The Indian Scarf (Das indische Tuch) from 1963 and The Strange Countess (Die seltsame Gräfin) from 1961.

The Indian Scarf is a fairly standard “And then there were none” type of plot, in which a wacky aristocratic clan gathers on an isolated island for a will reading and someone begins whacking them off one by one. Kinski plays an illegitimate son, who is despised by the family and may or may not be a drug addict. Also features Hans Clarin, known to German audiences as a comedian and cartoon voice actor, as the deranged half-brother of Kinski’s character.

In The Strange Countess Kinski plays a mental patient who escapes from a psychiatric facility and tries to kill a young woman, because he has been led to believe that killing her will cure him from his illness. Also features silent film diva Lil Dagover as the main villainness.

]]> By: Lauren Wissot http://blog.spout.com/2008/09/03/the-rock-klaus-kinski-lust-jerking-off-to-genre/#comment-113828 Lauren Wissot Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:35:15 +0000 http://blog.spout.com/?p=4489#comment-113828 Thank you so much, Cora, for enlightening me. Please keep more comments like this coming! Thank you so much, Cora, for enlightening me. Please keep more comments like this coming!

]]> By: Cora http://blog.spout.com/2008/09/03/the-rock-klaus-kinski-lust-jerking-off-to-genre/#comment-113822 Cora Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:19:23 +0000 http://blog.spout.com/?p=4489#comment-113822 Have you seen <i>The Squeaker</i> (Der Zinker), a German black and white thriller by Alfred Vohrer from 1965? It is IMO one of Kinski's finest performances, even more so because he doesn't speak a single word in the entire film. Like so often, he plays a psychotic killer. There is a homoerotic subtext, which lots of people miss, and highly erotic scene, where Kinski plays with a snake. <i>The Blue Hand</i> (Die blaue Hand) from 1967, another Alfred Vohrer thriller, even features Kinski in a double role. This time, he is not actually a psychotic killer (well, one character played by Kinski isn't), though everybody believes he is. Actually, all of the German thrillers Klaus Kinski made between the late 1950s and early 1970s are well worth watching, though not always easy to find outside Germany. Have you seen The Squeaker (Der Zinker), a German black and white thriller by Alfred Vohrer from 1965? It is IMO one of Kinski’s finest performances, even more so because he doesn’t speak a single word in the entire film. Like so often, he plays a psychotic killer. There is a homoerotic subtext, which lots of people miss, and highly erotic scene, where Kinski plays with a snake.

The Blue Hand (Die blaue Hand) from 1967, another Alfred Vohrer thriller, even features Kinski in a double role. This time, he is not actually a psychotic killer (well, one character played by Kinski isn’t), though everybody believes he is.

Actually, all of the German thrillers Klaus Kinski made between the late 1950s and early 1970s are well worth watching, though not always easy to find outside Germany.

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