finale." Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times declared it "a strange and original piece of work ... if in its last third it is overwhelmed by its own symbolisms and is disappointing, it has in its first half some passages of terrific power and brutal believability." Penelope Gilliatt of The New Yorker wrote, "This is a brilliant, poetic film about a man's clutch on a difficult existence." A less enthusiastic review by Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called it a "dogged, obstinately despairing parable" that "is strewn with gauche little appeals for sympathy." Richard Combs of The Monthly Film Bulletin was also somewhat negative and stated, "On such well-trodden ground, it seems, Herzog has little to say that is not derivative of himself or others; one can only hope that he quickly finds his way back to more unfamiliar regions." Geoff Andrew of Time Out said, "Although relatively indulgent for Herzog, the film's comedy works well enough, because Herzog's idiosyncratic imagination finds an ideal counterpoint in the bleak flatlands of poor white America. His view of that country is the most askance since the films of Monte Hellman. For all the supposed lightness, it is the film's core of despair which in the end devours everything." In 2002, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called it "one of the oddest films ever made" when including it as one of his "Great Movies". In popular culture One of the last things Ian Curtis of the band Joy Division did, just prior to dying by suicide in 1980, was watch the film, as well as listen to Iggy Pop's The Idiot. The ending scenes of Stroszek appear in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People and the 2007 film Control, during scenes which portray Curtis' final moments. An audio clip of dialogue from Stroszek is used at the end of "Bilar" as it leads into the beginning of "Drugs" on the 2010 album LP4 by Ratatat. In Noah Baumbach's film The Meyerowitz Stories, Harold Meyerowitz and Maureen's dog Bruno is said to have been named after this movie's protagonist. References External links 1977 films 1970s avant-garde and experimental films German avant-garde and experimental films West German films 1970s German-language films English-language German films Films directed by Werner Herzog Films set in Berlin Films set in West Germany Films set in Wisconsin Films shot in Wisconsin Films shot in North Carolina