How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck (1976)

Original title

How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck: Beobachtungen zu einer neuen Sprache

Directed by

Werner Herzog

Genre

documentary film

Country

Germany

Runtime

45 min

Rated

6

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 29 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary watches livestock auctioneers at a championship competition in Pennsylvania. It also shows Amish people speaking Pennsylvania Dutch. The film notices the unusual poetry in the auctioneers' fast talking.

observationalcalmcontemplativequirkymeditativefocusedunderstated

What happens

How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck (German: Beobachtungen zu einer neuen Sprache, literally "Observations of a New Language") is a 1976 documentary film by German director Werner Herzog, produced by Werner Herzog Filmproduktion. It is a 44-minute film documenting the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship held in New Holland, Pennsylvania. The film also contains a section about the Amish and shows Amish speaking Pennsylvania Dutch. Herzog has said that he believes auctioneering to be "the last poetry possible, the poetry of capitalism". Herzog describes the auctioneering as an "extreme language ... frightening but quite beautiful at the same time". Herzog used two of the featured auctioneers Ralph Wade and Scott McKain as actors in his later film Stroszek. Cinematographer Edward Lachman got his start working with Herzog on this film; he would work on La Soufrière (1977) shortly after. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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