Always great to see a Met live HD broadcast, but some aspects of Kentridge's Wozzeck seem confusing and amiss

Yesterday we saw the Met Opera current production of Berg's Wozzeck via live HD broadcast; we went in large part to see the William Kentridge production (sets, costumes, design, direction) - have been interested in WK since seeing a show of his about 10 years go in SF. It's always great to see these Met live HD broadcasts - the sound is good (never as good as being in the house of course but probably as good as or better than broadcast) and you have the "best seat in the house," in a way - they're in fact seats that no one in the house can have - real close-ups of the performers, which of course over the years has changed so much in opera performance: the artists have to be good-looking, appropriate to their roles, and expressive without seeming unnatural and "stagey." All held up on that point in this production. The Kentridge sets were amazing as well, true examples of Expressionism (may remind you of the contemporaneous - 1920 - film Cabinet of Dr Caligari) quite appropriate to the material - the story of a troubled young man who feels beset upon by all forces: picked on by his commanding officers, teased and bullied in public, shamed that his wife/girlfriend is a prostitute and gives him little or no access to their son, impoverished, probably alcoholic, best by fears and demons - all this made vivid through a stream of projected slides and sketches and images emanating directly, it seems, from Wozzeck's mind. It's by no means a "pleasant" opera, nor is it meant to be - you won't leave the theater whistling the tunes; it's about the breakdown of man and of a culture. All to the good, but I still have some reservations about this production. First of all, it's never made clear enough) exactly when these events take place: in German, sure, but before the World War? During? W seems at times to be in the military, but he never wears a uniform. Many of the characters, including the infant, wear gas masks (and projected map that appears at one point highlights sites of WWI battles esp where gas was used) - but, again, what's the point he's trying to make here? Just confusing - although we do get a sense that Wozzeck himself represents all of German culture and history, feeling bullied and marginalized, like his country, ready to unleash violence - again, like his country. But all that feels remote, at least from American audiences (this production premiered in Salzburg); why not a contemporary setting? And if it must stay in the early 20th century, why not some consistency in costume: W seed realistic and correct for his time and status - basically, ragged khaki - but others were costumed as if for, maybe, Abduction from the Seraglio: piercing white military dress uniforms, a big feather-bedecked hat, curled handlebar mustache, etc. In its overall effect, this production was emotionally cold and distant - yes, perhaps intentionally; it's in the Brecht tradition of making us aware at all times that we're watching a drama, never "losing us" in the emotions - but the characters do seem always to address the audience rather than one another so there's no emotional connection with them and the tragic, violent conclusion doesn't engage and scare us the way it could, or should.