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Video of very small German man laughing at a camel

Mark Frauenfelder at 3:46 pm Mon, Oct 8, 2007

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Enjoy this video of a diminutive German gentleman amused by a camel. It's from Werner Herzog's 1970 film Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen (Even Dwarfs Started Small), starring Helmut Döring.

Synopsis from Wikipedia:

A group of dwarfs confined in an institution on a remote island rebel against the guards and director (all dwarfs as well) in a display of mayhem. The dwarfs gleefully break windows and dishes, abandon a running truck to drive itself in circles, engineer food fights and cock fights, set fire to pots of flowers, kill a large pig, torment some blind dwarfs, and crucify a monkey.
Link (Via PCL Linkdump)

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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  • eli

    It’s funny that you chose that part of the film, when the part about crucifying the monkey is much better. You can watch it here and even get some jpg stills:

    http://www.goiena.net/blogak/kixmi/ipotxen-matxinada

  • mrfitz

    Curiously, the sound seems post hoc.

  • joncro

    Check out Werner here -

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/18549761@N00/1516790124/

  • goodknifeworks

    Reminds me of Val Kilmer in Top Secret; “I know a little German. He’s sitting over there!”

  • hassan-i-sabbah

    It was Stroszek that Curtis watched before his final swing, a much more depressing movie than Even dwarves….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroszek

  • tyler the perfect child

    Ian Curtis of the band Joy Division was playing this movie when he hung himself supposedly.

  • ticklemouse

    As I recall, Ian Curtis was watching a different Herzog movie – Strozek – when he gone done himself in.
    The ending of the film (which would certainly make anyone contemplate the great hereafter) can be found below.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUcTvhyof8I

  • DoctorMantis

    So does anybody else think that guy looks a lot like Mickey Rooney?

  • Greatmiddlewest

    Man this is a great movie. My wife and I watched it last year at the recommendation of her professor, and we both really enjoyed it. Kind of disturbing and oddly beautiful at the same time.

  • Anonymous

    Even Dwarfs Started Small is pretty out there even for Herzog. Real animals are really hurt in the movie, so by the time you get to the camel you’re just about sick, though apparently it wasn’t actually harmed. I saw Herzog speak at Ebertfest this year (where they showed Stroszek, which was the movie Ian Curtis allegedly watched before killing himself) and he seems like a sweet guy, which makes his movies even stranger.

  • BlackAndy

    More Werner Herzog posts please. Here’s something to get you thinking:

    “Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe”

  • BlackAndy

    Found a link for (part of?) it on youtube:

    Werner Herzog on images, TV, and shoes

  • Anonymous

    It is a pretty weird movie. I found the monkey-crucification scene really disturbing and strangely touching.

  • Anonymous

    this movie is great! at one point one of the characters hotwires a car and proceeds to jump on the hood. first instance of ghost riding the whip caught on film! here’s a video that a friend of mine made of this scene, complete with appropriate music. enojoy!

  • kaosdevice

    You really didn’t have me untill crucified monkey.

    Which really should be the name of a band.