Ari Marcopoulos Purple Television takeover Day 7 / Letzte Worte (1968) by Werner Herzog

“Letzte Worte” (Last Words) is a 1968 short film by Werner Herzog shot in Crete and on the island of Spinalonga. The film was shot in two days during the filming of Herzog’s feature Signs of Life, and edited in one day. The film tells a story of the last man to leave the abandoned island of Spinalonga, which had been used as a leper colony. The man refused to leave, and so was forcibly removed. He now lives in Crete, where he plays the lyre at nights in a bar, and refuses to speak. The film’s narrative style is very unconventional, with most characters speaking their lines several times repeatedly in long takes. The man from the island has the most spoken lines of any character, as he repeatedly explains that he refuses to speak, even a single word.

“I chose this film mostly because of the music and the live performances in it. Greek music is inside of me . I remember when i was a small boy going to dinner with my family and we’d stay up late after dinner listening to music, dancing and breaking 100’s of plates smashing them on the floor. What an experience. I also remember when the colonels took over in a coup the breaking the plates practice was forbidden. I knew there was something wrong with the colonels, glad that we lived in Holland not under a dictator, just vacation in Greece.” – Ari Marcopoulos

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter