In MYSTERIES, agronomist, Johan Nagel (Rutger Hauer) arrives in a small, seaside town where he befriends a small man (David Rappaport), whom the townsfolk seem hellbent on humiliating and otherwise tormenting, until Nagel intervenes.
Nagel spends much of his spare time walking around in the world's largest fur coat. He also enjoys checking out the local female population.
A bit of an enigma, Nagel is kind one minute, and biting someone, or poisoning their dog the next!
This is a stunningly slow movie. While many films of its era are rather slow moving, this one appears to subvert time itself, actually running backward in many spots!
Hauer isn't really the problem, and he somehow keeps his dignity intact throughout this interminable affair. His character is fairly interesting in a bizarre, looney sort of way. However, anyone expecting a true story line, action, or even a pulse from this movie had better steer clear!
Punctuated by Rappaport's voice-over narration and sudden, inexplicable nudity, MYSTERIES has no real reason to exist, other than to offer Hauer an excuse to stroll about in his grizzly bear coat...
