Editing Even Dwarfs Started Small

{{Short description|1970 film}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Even Dwarfs Started Small
| image = Even Dwarfs Started Small.jpg

| alt = 
| caption = American Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Werner Herzog]]
| producer = Werner Herzog
| writer = Werner Herzog
| starring = Helmut Döring
| music = [[Florian Fricke]]
| cinematography = [[Thomas Mauch]]
| editing = [[Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus]]
| studio = [[Werner Herzog|Werner Herzog Filmproduktion]]
| distributor = [[Werner Herzog Filmproduktion]]
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1970|05|15|[[1970 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]]|1971|02|02|West Germany|1971|12|15|US}}
| runtime = 96 minutes
| country = West Germany
| language = German
| budget = $200,000<ref name="dvd">Werner Herzog, DVD audio commentary for ''Even Dwarfs Started Small''</ref>
}}
'''''Even Dwarfs Started Small''''' ({{langx|de|Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen}}) is a 1970 West German [[Absurdist fiction|absurdist]] [[comedy-drama]] film written, produced, and directed by [[Werner Herzog]].

==Plot==
Dwarfs confined in an institution on a remote island rebel against the guards and director, also dwarfs, in a display of mayhem. They gleefully break windows and dishes, [[Evil laughter|cackle]] maniacally, abandon a running truck to drive itself in circles, engineer [[food fight]]s and [[cock fight]]s, look at [[Centerfold|pin-up]] magazines, set fire to pots of flowers, kill a large pig, torment some blind dwarfs, and perform a mock [[crucifixion]] of a monkey.

==Cast==
* Helmut Döring as Hombré
* Paul Glauer as Erzieher
* Gisela Hertwig as Pobrecita
* Hertel Minkner as Chicklets
* Gertrud Piccini as Piccini
* Marianne Saar as Theresa
* Brigitte Saar as Cochina
* Gerd Gickel as Pepe
* Erna Gschwendtner as Azucar

==Production==
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2023}}
The film was shot on the [[Canary Islands]], at [[Lanzarote]]. It was produced during the same time period as Herzog's ''[[Fata Morgana (1972 film)|Fata Morgana]]'' and ''[[The Flying Doctors of East Africa]]'', and there are visual and thematic connections between the three works. Notably, the goggles worn by the blind dwarfs are the same style as the goggles which several people wear in ''Fata Morgana''.<ref name="dvd" />

During the filming, Herzog gave some surprising stage directions to elicit particular performances from the actors. In directing one dwarf who continually struggled not to laugh, Herzog repeatedly told the actor that he must not laugh, but then made funny faces at him as soon as he started filming.<ref name="dvd" />

While filming the scene where a van drives in circles with no one at the wheel, one of the actors was run over, but immediately stood up uninjured. During the flower burning scene, the same actor caught fire and Werner Herzog raced over and beat the fire out. The actor only had minor injuries from the fire. After these two accidents, Herzog promised the actors that if they made it through the rest of filming without any more injuries he would jump into a [[cactus]] patch and allow the actors to film him doing so. The film was finished without any further injuries and the director made good his promise and dived into the cacti. Herzog has said, "Getting out was a lot more difficult than jumping in."<ref name="hh">{{cite book | last = Herzog | first = Werner | title = Herzog on Herzog | publisher = [[Faber and Faber]] | year = 2001 | isbn = 0-571-20708-1 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/herzogonherzog00herz }}</ref> The vehicle-in-circles scene was inspired by an incident that occurred when Herzog worked as a steward at the [[Oktoberfest|Munich Oktoberfest]] as a young man. Part of his duty was ensuring that drunk patrons did not attempt to drive their cars home, so when a drunk man insisted that he was capable of driving, Herzog got into his car with him, placed the steering wheel on full lock, then got out of his car. The man passed out and the car continued to drive in a circle until it ran out of [[petrol]]. This situation was repeated at the end Herzog's 1977 film [[Stroszek]].

==Reception==
''Even Dwarfs Started Small'' has a 100% approval rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Even Dwarfs Started Small|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/even_dwarfs_started_small|access-date=2021-10-11|website=Rotten Tomatoes}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0065436|Even Dwarfs Started Small}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|even_dwarfs_started_small}}

{{Werner Herzog}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Even Dwarfs Started Small}}
[[Category:1970 films]]
[[Category:1970s avant-garde and experimental films]]
[[Category:1970 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:West German films]]
[[Category:German avant-garde and experimental films]]
[[Category:German comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1970 independent films]]
[[Category:1970s German-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Werner Herzog]]
[[Category:Cruelty to animals]]
[[Category:Films set in psychiatric hospitals]]
[[Category:German independent films]]
[[Category:Films set on islands]]
[[Category:Films shot in the Canary Islands]]
[[Category:Films about people with dwarfism]]
[[Category:Cockfighting in film]]
[[Category:1970s German films]]
[[Category:German-language comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:German-language independent films]]