Heart of Glass

A hauntingly strange period piece even by director Werner Herzog’s uncompromising standards, this dreamlike fairy tale takes place in 18th-century Bavaria. The citizens of a small mountain town are thrown into panic when the local factory’s glass chief glassblower dies, taking with him the secret of creating precious, magical ruby glass. Meanwhile, a prophet predicts doom for the town, foreshadowing two centuries of industrial revolution, tyranny and war. Herzog famously hypnotized cast members before each scene, which helps explain their blank, trancelike performances. HEART OF GLASS demands patience from viewers but it remains a bizarre, fascinating, sporadically transcendent experiment.