Woyzeck
“Shame, vengeance, terror... love.”
Having fathered an illegitimate child with his lover, Marie, feckless soldier Franz Woyzeck takes odd jobs around his small town to provide some extra money for them. One job is volunteering for experiments conducted by a local doctor, who puts Woyzeck on a diet of peas. This serves to drive him close to madness, and the discovery that Marie is involved in an affair with the local drum major exacerbates the situation. Pushed too far, Woyzeck resorts to violence.
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Cast
14 people
Klaus Kinski
Friedrich Johann Franz Woyzeck
Known for
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Nosferatu the Vampyre
Eva Mattes
Marie
Known for
Enemy at the Gates
Stroszek
Wolfgang Reichmann
Captain
Known for
The Nun
Willy Semmelrogge
Doctor
Known for
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
Scene of the Crime
Josef Bierbichler
Drum Major
Known for
Heart of Glass
Code Unknown
Paul Burian
Andres
Also in
Der Gehülfe
Lamento
Volker Prechtel
Handwerksbursche
Known for
The Name of the Rose
Heart of Glass
Dieter Augustin
Marktschreier
Known for
Snowroller
Irm Hermann
Margret
Known for
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
The Merchant of Four Seasons
Wolfgang Bächler
Jew
Also in
The Sudden Wealth of the Poor People of Kombach
Hauptlehrer Hofer
Rosemarie Heinikel
Also in
The American Friend
Sexy and Not Yet 16
Herbert Fux
Unteroffizier
Known for
Mark of the Devil
Lady Frankenstein
Werner Herzog Director · Georg Büchner Author Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein Cinematographer
United States release August 25, 1979 · Produced in Germany · Production ZDF
Production
Werner Herzog Filmproduktion
Production
ZDF
Production
Germany
Produced in
Languages
Original language
German
Spoken on screen
German
Release dates
Germany · May 25, 1979
Theatrical
United States · August 25, 1979
Theatrical
China
April 18, 2026 · Premiere · Beijing International Film Festival
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Some details come from TheTVDB.