Werner Herzog's first fiction film since 1984's WHERE THE GREEN ANTS DREAM, INVINCIBLE is based on the true story of Zishe Breitbart (Ahola), a Polish Jew from a humble shtetl who was touted as the world's strongest man. Discovered at a traveling carnival and brought to Berlin to perform in a nightclub run by the self proclaimed clairvoyant Erik-Jan Hanussen (Roth), Zishe is forced to perform feats of strength on stage in a blonde wig under the name Siegfried in order to mollify the club's significant Nazi contingent. However, as the naive Zishe begins to see the danger the Nazis represent to his people, he declares his heritage on stage, outraging the secretly Jewish Hanussen and his Aryan audience.
Populating his cast with mostly nonprofessional actors, including Jouko Ahola, a Finnish real life "strongest man" contest winner, Herzog takes what could have been a rousing sentimental biopic and turns it into a brooding cautionary tale about a character with mythic aspirations. Providing contrast are Tim Roth's scaly and charismatic Hannussen, and Udo Kier's brief turn as the aristocratic Helldorf, which, combined with Herzog's dreamlike imagery, give the film the feeling of a surreal fable.
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Dolby Surround Stereo - English
Stereo 2.0 - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailers: Original Theatrical Trailer
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus
DVD-ROM Features:
Featured
Zesha Breitbart: Featured (not actual person, just based on him), INVINCIBLE
Review 1:
"...Gripping....This eminent German director has pulled off the tricky feat of elevating a true story into a larger-than-life allegory. Embellished with magic realism and washed in voluptuous quasi-Wagnerian score..."
Source: New York Times
p.E20 09/20/2002
Review 2:
"...Herzog is a powerful, unique visionary....The period is evoked with care and imagination, and the film glows with Peter Zeitlinger's cinematography. It has some bravura images and surreal moments typical of Herzog..."
Source: Los Angeles Times
p.C18 09/20/2002
Review 3:
"...[Roth] is positively mesmerizing..."
Source: Box Office
p.151 11/01/2002
Review 4:
"...A film of uncommon fascination....The movie has the power of a great silent film, unafraid of grand gestures and moral absolutes..."
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
p.35 10/04/2002
Review 5:
"...[Ahola] has a wonderful ironic gentleness....[Roth] just about grips the screen..."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.55 10/11/2002