“The truth here is always what is not seen.”

In 2001, Herzog returned to fiction feature films after a decade of documentary, with Invincible.

Eric Hanussen was a clairvoyant and astrology who practiced in Berlin in the 1930s, and stirred up support for the Nazis. He was also Jewish. He’s written about extensively on New Dawn magazine, characterized as an unscrupulous man, he ruthlessly dreamed of expanding his Circle of the Occult to support his idol Hitler. I literally had to look away from the screen as Tim Roth in the first hypnosis scene, thinking if Herzog was actually trying to hypnotize viewers.

Zishe Breitbart is sweet and uncomplicated, a family oriented Polish blacksmith who runs away to the circus. Carries a quiet and stoic exterior, resists performing in front of a Nazi audience, having to play Siegfried the Aryan strongman (over whom the Nazis lose their shit over his displays of macho heroism). Hanussen tortures Zishe by abusing the pianist Marta in front of Zishe. By revealing his heritage, Zishe throws off the wig of Siegfried (nearly causing a Nazi riot) but inspires his fellow Jews in the process.

In the films most Herzogian scenes, Zishe is in a dreamscape near a beach, surrounded by red crabs, a train approaches that will inevitably run them all over. Hanussen dreams of being a center of power himself, with a more elaborate Circle of the Occult. Were these hypnotized crabs those who worship power, only to be run over an unseen oncoming force? (Folks may recognize these crabs from another Herzog film. Do you know which one? What do you think about the metaphors in each film? Drop a comment!)

Update 12/25/22 – Interesting throwback to Herzog’s first film, “The Herakles.” It’s a short film juxtaposing scenes of bombings with scenes of bodybuilders, and seems to be a comment on an obsession with strength and a show of force. Perhaps this comment is central to the German character that Herzog is exploring.