Legend has it that, in order to get the desired effect for this movie's atmosphere, Werner Herzog had almost all of his actors perform under hypnosis. I don't know if I necessarily believe that rumor (though I suppose you could say that about most stories involving Herzog), but it sure seems credible while you're watching it.
This one is strange. From the very beginning, you can sense the distinctly unsettling tone, and that tone persists for the entire duration. With the possible exception of the seer character (played by the one actor who purportedly wasn't hypnotized, which lends further credence to that story), everyone comes off like a drugged, twitchy lunatic. It's eerie, to say the least, and this feeling is only amplified by the movie's dim lighting, quiet scoring, and noticeable lack of movement.
Granted, it's a bit of a challenging watch. The story moves at a snail's pace, there's absolutely zero plot, and it took me about twenty minutes to figure out what the hell was even going on. It's all a little tedious and one-note for my liking (I was at my most engaged during the glass-forging scenes, which is probably saying something), but that note is creepy and foreboding enough that I was usually interested in seeing where it was all headed - and whether the seer was actually correct in his predictions.
Grade: B