| Director | Werner Herzog |
|---|---|
| Genre | comedy film, drama film |
| Runtime | 108 min |
| Country | Germany |
Bruno Stroszek is a West Berlin street performer. Released from prison and warned to stop drinking, he immediately goes to a familiar bar where he meets Eva, a prostitute down on her luck, and lets her stay with him at the apartment his landlord kept for him. They are then harried and beaten by Eva's former pimps, who insult Bruno, destroy his accordion, and humiliate him by making him kneel on his piano with bells balanced on his back. Faced with the prospect of further harassment, Bruno and Eva decide to leave Germany with Bruno's eccentric elderly neighbor Scheitz, who plans to move to Wisconsin to live with his nephew Clayton.
After sightseeing in New York City, they buy a used car and arrive in a winter-bound, barren prairie near the town of Railroad Flats, Wisconsin. Bruno takes a job as a car mechanic with Clayton and his assistant, Eva works as a waitress at a truck stop diner, and Scheitz pursues his interest in animal magnetism. Eva and Bruno buy a mobile home which is sited on Clayton's land; with bills mounting, the bank threatens to repossess it. Eva returns to prostitution to supplement her wages, but it is not enough to meet the payments. She eventually tires of Bruno's worrying and leaves him, accepting a ride with truck drivers bound for Vancouver.
A collection agent visits Bruno, who is now drinking heavily, and has him release the home for auction. Scheitz believes there is a conspiracy against them and sets off with Stroszek to confront it. They try to rob the bank in town, find it closed, and hold up the barber shop beneath it instead. With $32 stolen, they go grocery shopping across the street. The police arrive and arrest Scheitz without noticing Bruno. Holding a large frozen turkey from the store and the shotgun used in the robbery, Bruno returns to the garage where he works, loads the tow truck with beer, and drives along a highway into the mountains.
The truck breaks down in Cherokee, North Carolina; Bruno pulls over to a restaurant, where he tells his story to a German-speaking businessman. After the businessman leaves the penniless Bruno to pay for their meal, Bruno starts the truck and leaves it circling in the parking lot with a fire taking hold in the engine compartment. He enters a roadside attraction across the street and activates its coin-operated animal exhibits, then switches on a chairlift and rides it with the frozen turkey. After completing a trip up and down the mountainside, he passes out of view and a shot is heard. The police arrive at the scene to find the truck fully ablaze, Bruno's body still on the chairlift, and the animals performing nonstop.