Werner Herzog travels to Siberia to observe miracle healers, self-proclaimed saviours who profess to be Christ’s successors, and people performing strange, almost incomprehensible rituals near far-off Svetloyar lake.

A man crawls across the ice, another follows him. Their full attention is directed downwards, towards the depths where apparently the sound of bells rings out. This theme features in many European myths and legends and revolves around the desire for all that is sunken and invisible which may become palpable at specific moments in time. As in most of his ostensibly documentary works, Herzog dispenses with verbal explanations; he simply records what fascinates him. Here and there he provides a modicum of additional information or a translated voiceover. It would have been easy to explain the utter lack of messages of salvation and utopias following the collapse of the Soviet Union, but Herzog leaves the thinking observer space to contemplate this alone. Occasionally one feels that, out of respect for the individuals, Herzog shies away from demystifying the real or alleged enigmas surrounding his subjects. Around the upper reaches of the Yenisey River Herzog finds a few humble cabins; a group of people sit inside, all of them silent. One man is carrying out a ritual with fire, smoke and water. Those present drink from a bowl. A woman explains that they are ill. The shaman is here to exorcize the evil spirits – and to set these nomadic people off on the right path. The whole ritual is accompanied by the exotic sounds of Siberian throat singers.

A woman proclaims that the saviour has come and calls on all to follow him. And the “saviour” himself – a mixture of Rasputin, Nazarene painting and Oberammergau dress – explains unflinchingly, “I can only say that I am the word of God.” Herzog explained during a panel discussion that the number of self-proclaimed successors of Christ is constantly on the increase. Another saviour claims he can charge water and unguents with energy and moves his arms as if conducting spirits. Yuri Tarassov also presents himself as a redeemer, “I, Russia’s magician, command you...” Women on stage break down into – feigned or authentic, it is impossible to tell – hysterical fits. They wail and moan, beseeching the magician to heal them.

Legend has it that a town once sunk into the depths of Lake Kitezh because god wanted to save his followers from Tatar attack. There is a hill nearby; an old man circles it on hands and knees – apparently it is the “seventh hill of Jerusalem”. A woman tells of a demon she claims to have seen, of a pig that went mad, of bells that she heard from the deep. In the background men crawl over the thin ice on the lake, upon something that still does not seem truly solid. But, because Herzog holds them at the edge of the screen, with a keen eye one can glimpse ice fishermen and skaters on the lake.

A man in a monastery plays a glockenspiel. He says he wants to make people happy with his “art”. He used to work as a film projectionist. He explains that he is an orphan and knows nothing of his parents. We learn that he was born in 1944. Herzog refrains from alluding to the backdrop of the Second World War, to the horrors of that time. Viewers must themselves find the relationship between the past, the present and a deep-rooted desire, be it rational or irrational, for redemption. The juxtaposition between close-ups and long shots stretching off into the endless distance where people seem small and utterly lost is also revealing – Herzog used this aesthetic in his 1974 feature film, EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF AND GOD AGAINST ALL. This story of the foundling Kaspar Hauser also tells of a single soul lost in the vastness of the world.

Production Country

Germany (DE), United States of America (US)

Production Period

1993

Production Year

1993

color

color

Aspect Ratio

1:1,37

Duration

Medium-Length Film (31 to 60 Min.)

Type

Documentary

Topic

Religion, Film History

Available Media

DCP, Blu-ray Disc, DVD

Original Version

German (de)

DCP

Subtitles

German (partly), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Italian (it), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (zh), Russian (ru), Turkish (tr), Arabic (ar), Lithuanian (lt)

Note on the Format

DCP ist verschlüsselt

Blu-ray Disc

Subtitles

German (partly), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Italian (it), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (zh), Russian (ru), Turkish (tr), Arabic (ar), Lithuanian (lt)

DVD

Subtitles

German (partly), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Italian (it), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (zh), Russian (ru), Turkish (tr), Arabic (ar)