Bacurau by Kleber Mendonça Filho
Acclaimed German actor Udo Kier died today at the age of 81 of undisclosed causes. Born on October 14, 1944, in Lindenthal, Kier was a prolific performer, appearing in over 220 films and collaborating with filmmakers such as Lars von Trier, Gus Van Sant, Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Walerian Borowczyk, Dario Argento, Tom Shadyac, Charles Matton, Guy Maddin, Alexander Payne, and Paul Morrissey.
Kier drifted through world cinema like a beautifully unsettling apparition. His unmistakable presence—a mix of menace, elegance, and off-kilter humor—made him one of the most recognizable character actors of his generation. While often associated with European art films, Hollywood indies, and cult classics, one of the most intriguing and underexplored facets of his career was his relationship with Latin American cinema in recent years, where his singular energy took on unexpected and revelatory forms.
His first Latin American role was in the 2019 Dominican film Holy Beasts / La fiera y la fiesta, directed by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas. The film follows aging punk diva Vera (Geraldine Chaplin), who returns to Santo Domingo to direct an unfinished project by her late friend Jean-Louis Jorge, accompanied by old collaborators and her loyal choreographer.
As the musical production unfolds, tensions rise, and death begins to haunt the set. Kier played Henry, Vera’s eccentric confidant and choreographer, in a cast that also included the late Colombian director Luis Ospina as director of photography. The film had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, marking Kier’s first major appearance in Latin American cinema.
That same year, Kier appeared in the acclaimed Brazilian western Bacurau, directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, which premiered in the official competition at Cannes. Also starring Sonia Braga, the film is set in a small village in the sertão mourning the death of its matriarch. The story escalates when the town mysteriously disappears from online maps and is targeted by a band of armed mercenaries led by Kier. In a tense, genre-bending confrontation, the villagers use ingenuity and determination to defend their home, turning the tables on the outsiders in a gripping tale of community and resistance.
In 2022, Kier starred as Mr. Herzog in My Neighbor Adolf, directed by Israeli filmmaker Leon Prudovsky, a Colombian co-production. Set in 1960s Colombia, the film follows Polsky, a lonely Holocaust survivor who becomes convinced that his new German neighbor is Adolf Hitler. Isolated and disbelieved by those around him, Polsky embarks on a detective mission that brings him uncomfortably close to the enigmatic neighbor, played by Kier, in a story blending suspense, humor, and historical reflection.
Kier also appeared in Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent / O Agente Secreto, Brazil’s submission for Best International Feature at the Academy Awards. Set in Recife, Brazil in 1977, the story follows Marcelo, a technology expert on the run, as he navigates the dangers of the city while trying to reunite with his son. Kier plays Hans, a Jewish Holocaust survivor who is mistakenly assumed to be a Nazi fugitive. The film marks Kier’s last performance and opens in U.S. theaters this week.
