Review of Even Dwarfs Started Small (1971) by Allen G — 06 Aug 2013

Sure it's weird but it's conventional for Herzog- worth watching for the great moments rather than the overall experience which can be testing at times. Not Herzog's best but certainly packed with those oddly-haunting moments that Herzog is so fond of.

This one isn't for animal lovers, or people concerned about the safety of the actors involved- there are several cringe-worthy moments where it seems like an actor is about to die, and Herzog's carefree nature is on full display. Looking in to the making of the film, one actor actually almost did die-twice. So there, it's not just the animals that got harmed.

The plot is remarkably simple and is kind of like Lord Of The Flies if Golding had written it while on some strange mushrooms he found in a forest somewhere. It's not much of a horror for the most part but the genuine dangers surrounding the cast along with the animals being killed off one by one (that poor, poor monkey- great scene though!) do give it the necessary edge to earn the title. It's a fairly funny film though, mostly because people with dwarfism make awesome noises when they laugh, it's the truth.

The surrealism of the whole thing too- I've just never seen that many small people, be that angry, all at once... or something... I dunno, I kind of wanted to join in at first but I'm not sure my body would fit in any of the camera shots plus things get a little out of hand, eh?

It's a strange and wacky film that has some substance too and that alone is enough but it pushes its length and it's only about 90 minutes long so the lengthy shots didn't always add to the film here and some plot progression would have made the experience more seamless.

A must-see for Herzog fans and worth-watching for the unique shots. If you're after the full movie experience though, rather than following the madness just to witness the spectacle, then you should probably avoid this one.