Werner Herzog films: c/d/s/d

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Compelling director or cranky old man?

Jeff, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Search: Woyzek. That's all I've seen.

Sterling Clover, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Bit of both perhaps but at his best undeniably compelling. Few films have affected me as much as Aguirre truly breathtakingly beautiful, sometimes overwhelmingly so, from its Popul Vuh soundtracked first scene to Kinski's meglomania and the monkeys at the end. Stroszek's despair, alienation, + mad chickens make it an uncomfortable but rivetting viewing, Nosferatu didn't quite work for me (liked the rats scene though) Cobra Verde was flawed but fascinating + Woyszeck worth it for the performance he gets out of Klaus and the divine Eva Mattes. Not sure what to make of his fascination with survivors re juliane sturz in den dschungel, & Land of Silence + Darkness + but a fascinating figure nonetheless.

stevo, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

itallics off hopefully. Forgot Fitzcarraldo okish, + the manic one with the dwarfs which is just wierd.

stevo, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Aguirre was fantastic.

turner, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

search search SEARCH kinski's autobiography: he is funny (eg psychotically rude) abt Herzog and candid (eg clinically deranged) abt his sex life. Statistically he must have sex with four or five of the ladies posting here, at least if everything he says in the book is true. Which it surely isn't.

mark s, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I think Herzog's movies are totally fantastic, and second only to Tarkovski's.

Norman Phay, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Search: Aguirre for kinski's performance and the monkeys, Even Dwarfs Started Small for the little guy with the funny laugh, My Best Fiend for Herzog's demented relationship with Kinski. I haven't seen Fitz, woyzek and the others, but I assume I will like them as well.

Also search Werner's commentary tracks on all the dvds, the old man is a riot.

Jeff, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Along with the other films mentioned I'd recommend Lessons of Darkness, his documentary about the Gulf War. Broken down into chapters, he takes a helicopter over Kuwait and the oil fields, floating slowly over the the battlegrounds, collapsed silos, gutted tanks as if they were a computer game. Most of the film is set to his selection of the teutonic classics, Middle Eastern radio, though his his creepy dis-embodied voice-over takes us on a journey, similar to Dante's inferno: over the wreakage of afluent the wastelands, the miles of oil slicked desert, so smooth it perfectly mirrors the sky, to the disaster of the blazing oil wells. Although the commentary is very sparing, this is both a moving film and document of the war's concequences.

Also, I wouldn't trust Herzog's version of events. It sounded as if he were settling scores with Kinski safely six feet under.
I'd interested to know if anyone has seen Werner Herzog Eats his Shoe. Apparently, he promised Errol Morris (another feature documentary maker) that he would eat his own shoe if Errol completed a his long term project Mr Death, which he did in 95. So next time they met up Errol made him keep his word.

K-reg, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Herzog's version of events - in My Best Fiend

K-reg, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I've spent some time trying to track down a copy of Kinski's autobiography. Alas both 'All I need is love' + 'Uncut' are out of print + 2nd hand copies are v. expensive as the publishers withdrew them due to various lawsuits.

The Gospel according to Klaus Kinski

stevo, Wednesday, 7 November 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Bloomsbury published one of Kinski's autobiogs in English a few years back, and (according to the latest Uncut, which has a long feature on KK) they're just about to reprint it.

Herzog - great up until Fitzcarraldo - only the odd decent doc since then. Search: 'Heart of Glass' (the one where he hypnotised the cast), 'Aguirre Wrath of God' and esp. 'The Enigma of Kasper Hauser' one of my all-time faves. What was the Herzog film Ian Curtis was watching when he topped himself?

Andrew L, Wednesday, 7 November 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

'Stroszek' - alienated outsider musician (Bruno S. brilliant) released from prison leaves for US with hopes of new life in new world with prostitute girlfriend, but ends up in desolate Railroad Flats, Wisconsin. Curtis was about to leave on Joy Division's first US tour at the time.

stevo, Wednesday, 7 November 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

2 years pass...
i just saw "little dieter needs to fly," it was great!

s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 20 May 2004 02:47 (9 years ago) Permalink

'A galaxy of chaos hurts my head' -- said holding outside of hand to forehead. How can that be anything but better than average.

. (...), Thursday, 20 May 2004 03:03 (9 years ago) Permalink

Search: Aguirre, Fitzcarraldo (which really ought to be called Aguirre 2: The Opera

Destroy: Invincible. Dulldulldull Nazis v. Jews boilerplate. The Harmonists trod the same ground much better and didn't strive for a poetry the script and acting couldn't carry.

m.e.a. (m.e.a.), Thursday, 20 May 2004 03:05 (9 years ago) Permalink

i either like or love all of his films except My Best Friend which I found dense, snooty, and uninteresting as a whole. Perhaps I'm just not as fascinated by the Kinski / Herzog relationship as other fans

roger adultery (roger adultery), Thursday, 20 May 2004 03:06 (9 years ago) Permalink

Kinski's autobiography is wonderful, he talks about having sex with his sister, sex with an 80 year old, sex with a giant woman in Pakistan, in the first edition he even hinted about having sex with his daughter Natasha. I remember he described Herzog as having "fart stained pants" and seemed to genuinely hate his guts despite all the buddy, buddy stuff in "My best fiend".

Bob Corso, Thursday, 20 May 2004 03:15 (9 years ago) Permalink

Search the Even Dwarves Started Small DVD with the weird Crispin Glover commentary.

roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Thursday, 20 May 2004 03:39 (9 years ago) Permalink

No-one has mentioned "Kaspar Hauser" so far!!!!!!!!!!! I've cried more at "Land of Silence and Darkness" than I've cried at any film in film history.... and that includes "E.T."

Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 20 May 2004 10:12 (9 years ago) Permalink

5 months pass...
What is NOT good about him?

adam... (nordicskilla), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:07 (8 years ago) Permalink

Perhaps he is not a nice person? But he is a fascinating one.

Who has read Herzog On Herzog?

adam... (nordicskilla), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:08 (8 years ago) Permalink

Me

Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:08 (8 years ago) Permalink

What's not nice about him?

Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:09 (8 years ago) Permalink

I imagine him as someone who does not have the time or patience for the formal niceties you and I engage in on a daily basis.

Tell me about the book, please.

adam... (nordicskilla), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:12 (8 years ago) Permalink

he has or had an editing studio in berkeley. My friend worked there for like a week. she had to bring him tea. she never had anything unpleasant to report though.

kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

It's great. It's probably the best thing he's done in years. Too many anecdotes to repeat here. He seems like a very patient man to me. (xpost)

Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

I believe he lectured at UC Berkeley.

adam... (nordicskilla), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:14 (8 years ago) Permalink

I have a vague memory of seeing "Burden of Dreams" the film about the making of Fitzcarraldo. A movie loving friend of mine says that it's greater than Fitzcarraldo itself. i wish they had put it on the DVD of Fitzcarraldo - although i have had that for over a year and not got round to it yet.

jed_ (jed), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:14 (8 years ago) Permalink

I've had it for three and still not watched it! or kasper hauser either. maybe I should do that.

kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:16 (8 years ago) Permalink

Kasper Hauser is maybe a perfect film.

adam... (nordicskilla), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

You are denying yourself.

adam... (nordicskilla), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

I've had it for three and still not watched it! or kasper hauser either. maybe I should do that.

No maybe's about it (For "Kaspar" I mean)

Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:18 (8 years ago) Permalink

my best fiend is one of the best movies ever

s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:36 (8 years ago) Permalink

Kaspar Hauser is the best!

I've read Herzog on Herzog, it's amazing.

I've also watched both Kaspar Hauser and Hearts of Glass with the director commentary on. He is amazingly entertaining.

Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:56 (8 years ago) Permalink

Watch "Land of Silence and Darkness", it's his best documentary and one of the best films ever made

Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:57 (8 years ago) Permalink

So what do we think about Incident at Loch Ness?

Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:57 (8 years ago) Permalink

I love this anecdote from Ebert's review:

Rather than say exactly what I think about the veracity of "Incident at Loch Ness," let me tell you a story. A few years ago at the Telluride Film Festival, Herzog invited me to his hotel room to see videos of two of his new documentaries. One was about the Jesus figures of Russia, men who dress, act and speak like Jesus and walk through the land being supported by their disciples. The other was about a town whose citizens believe that a city of angels exists on the bottom of a deep lake and can be seen through the ice at the beginning of winter. Wait too long, and the ice is too thick to see through. Crawl onto the ice too soon, and you fall in.

Herzog has made many great documentaries in his career, and I was enthralled by both of these. He's a master of the cinema, with an instinct for the bizarre and unexpected. After I saw the films, he said he only had one more thing to tell me: Both of the documentaries were complete fiction.

Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 28 October 2004 16:02 (8 years ago) Permalink

Hey, I started this topic! Years ago!

Search God's Angry Man, I finally tracked down a copy of it.

Going to see Incident at Loch Ness today.

Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Thursday, 28 October 2004 16:11 (8 years ago) Permalink

Herzog PWNS. Herzog on Herzog PWNS.

I just bought "Land of Silence and Darkness!"

identity theftor (deangulberry), Thursday, 28 October 2004 16:12 (8 years ago) Permalink

"God's Angry Man" PWNS too, even at < an hour.

identity theftor (deangulberry), Thursday, 28 October 2004 16:12 (8 years ago) Permalink

we need a animated jpg of the dancing monkeys to put on every thread

still bevens (bscrubbins), Thursday, 28 October 2004 16:21 (8 years ago) Permalink

I HAD ONE! LET ME FIND IT

"FCC MONKEY BAND"

identity theftor (deangulberry), Thursday, 28 October 2004 16:22 (8 years ago) Permalink

gene scott has little patience for simian precussionists

still bevens (bscrubbins), Thursday, 28 October 2004 17:06 (8 years ago) Permalink

search: herzog in julien-donkey boy; 'kaspar hauser'; 'fitzcarraldo'; 'aguirre, the wrath of god'.

cºzen (Cozen), Thursday, 28 October 2004 17:23 (8 years ago) Permalink

you know which one I saw a few months back which blew my mind? FATA MORGANA. Echoey Sahara Desert travelogue with almost no dialogue, until the final third, where they show up at a bordello, and just... hang out.

I've never seen a bad Herzog film.

(Jon L), Thursday, 28 October 2004 17:25 (8 years ago) Permalink

I'm otm.

cºzen (Cozen), Thursday, 28 October 2004 17:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

I have seen a bad Herzog actually, now that I think about it ... Where The Green Ants Dream is pretty bad.

identity theftor (deangulberry), Thursday, 28 October 2004 17:32 (8 years ago) Permalink

Invincible was bad at times, probably the worst Herzog I've seen. You just can win when you have an overly earnest kid part in a film.

Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Thursday, 28 October 2004 17:35 (8 years ago) Permalink

I now believe the key to a successful WH impersonation is pronouncing "go-ink"

already president FYI (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 June 2011 17:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

"Don't start the chain you know?"

i am hearing this in the voice of ice-t for some reason. ice-t being a well-known expert on bear safety.

by another name (amateurist), Thursday, 16 June 2011 18:05 (2 years ago) Permalink

fwiw land of silence and darkness is one of the most powerful and unsettling films i've ever seen.

Yes, totally underrated film of his. As far as the humour qualities of his films, I can't imagine that 'is it supposed to be funny?' would get a straight answer from him, nor should it.

textbook blows on the head (dowd), Thursday, 16 June 2011 18:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

there's actually a video of him out there where he says he's funnier than eddie murphy

I now believe the key to a successful WH impersonation is pronouncing "go-ink"

― already president FYI (Dr Morbius), Thursday, June 16, 2011 1:40 PM (38 minutes ago) Bookmark

he is terribly difficult to impersonate, for me anyway - which seems weird since he has such a distinct way of speaking that i can easily imagine in my head

(.づ☀‿☀)づ ~da post-modernist struggle~ (.づ☀‿☀)づ (Princess TamTam), Thursday, 16 June 2011 18:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

whenever I try I usu get Arnold

already president FYI (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 June 2011 18:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

nothing funnier than cute animals dying a sad and lonely death.

― The New Dirty Vicar, Thursday, June 16, 2011 5:12 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark

comedy in herzog's poker-faced narrative analysis, not in penguin death (jeez)

And the piano, it sounds like a carnivore (contenderizer), Thursday, 16 June 2011 20:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

i bet that penguin shit was staged.

by another name (amateurist), Thursday, 16 June 2011 21:03 (2 years ago) Permalink

It was totally heading south.

scissorlocks and the three bears (Eric H.), Thursday, 16 June 2011 21:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

penguin was clearly a paid actor.

by another name (amateurist), Thursday, 16 June 2011 21:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

Herzog dressed up as a leopard seal and chased it towards the poll.

textbook blows on the head (dowd), Thursday, 16 June 2011 21:22 (2 years ago) Permalink

Someone should stop this man.

scissorlocks and the three bears (Eric H.), Thursday, 16 June 2011 21:28 (2 years ago) Permalink

saw grizzly man's US premiere at the Museum of Natural History and Werner, Treadwell's ex girlfriend ("you must never listen to this") and a bear expert who happened to be a bear mauling victim (face was all messed up) were on a post show panel. During the Q&A after the show, some plucky kid asked werner "What's the point of this movie?" and Werner, with no pause and totally deadpan, replies "What's the point of children."

― weird bibby fetish (forksclovetofu), Thursday, June 16, 2011 12:48 PM Bookmark

Ha, a former roommate was there and related this story. It stuck with me.

mike and the quantum mechanics (Hurting 2), Thursday, 16 June 2011 21:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

Is there a thread for that kids' book, btw?

already president FYI (Dr Morbius), Friday, 17 June 2011 14:53 (2 years ago) Permalink

two of my friends on Facebook are now FB friends with Werner Herzog.

The New Dirty Vicar, Friday, 17 June 2011 14:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

one thing I have noticed about Herzog is that nearly every film he does features a bear or bears.

The New Dirty Vicar, Friday, 17 June 2011 14:58 (2 years ago) Permalink

"He's sort of a fallen romantic -- he doesn't believe in things but he is still reluctantly excited by other people who believe in things"

For what's worth, I think he's more like some kind of Middle Age man (his interest in tradition is never nostalgic), also it seems to me that considering his maniacal attention to notions like truth and human nature he's definitely a "believer", albeit a rather paradoxical one (see also his hatred for postmodernism).

Marco Damiani, Friday, 17 June 2011 15:32 (2 years ago) Permalink

i think of him as deeply humanist and ultimately optimistic in his pessimism; "little dieter needs to fly" is pivotal

Don't start the chain you know? (forksclovetofu), Friday, 17 June 2011 15:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

Exactly - he's always somewhere between images of utter cruelty and desperation (the dancing chicken in Stroszek, the smoking chimpanzee of Echos aus einem düstern Reich) and the stark humaneness, totally devoid of any sentimentalism, of Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit.
Probably because of some personal reasons, his early TV documentary Behinderte Zukunft about a group of young disabled always struck me for its almost unbearable intensity.

Marco Damiani, Friday, 17 June 2011 16:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

he seems a little too ready to dominate the proceedings in his recent films. in his earlier ones you get a strong sense of his personality without him being all up in your grill.

by another name (amateurist), Saturday, 18 June 2011 01:50 (2 years ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

i saw "cave.." in 2 dimensions and loved it. great soundtrack.

lol waggoner (am0n), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 20:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

Saw this last night, for me his best since at least The White Diamond.

http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/into-the-abyss

(No bears, and he just interviews, doesn't narrate.)

Dr Morbois de Bologne (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 20:20 (1 year ago) Permalink

excited

truth fact and correct (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 20:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

oh wow, that's high praise; weren't people sceptical about this one, idk why

Abattoir Educator / Slaughterman (schlump), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 20:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

first ep of "On Death Row" is quality Herzog filmmaking but wrapped in odd cognitive Court TV/ID TV/Whatever the fuck they're calling it TV dissonance: each ten minute section is bookended by Paula Zahn intros and ads for Glade and fabric softener.
the show itself is Werner speaking one on one with people on death row in Grizzly Man tones and also interviewing family and painting a broader picture of the crime and the criminal. it's actively anti-death penalty rhetoric but as he puts it at the start of the first ep "that doesn't mean i like them"

Wesley Crusher: Teenage F#ck Machine (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 17 March 2012 21:17 (1 year ago) Permalink

this is on in the UK starting on thursday at 10 on ch4

koogs, Sunday, 18 March 2012 09:28 (1 year ago) Permalink

Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man Tones

john-claude van donne (schlump), Sunday, 18 March 2012 16:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

Cosmic Herzog Grizzly Man Tones For Mental Therapy

john-claude van donne (schlump), Sunday, 18 March 2012 16:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

His next, Queen of the Desert (about Gertrude Bell, of whom I've never heard) will feature Robert Pattinson as T.E. Lawrence.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/aug/15/robert-pattinson-lawrence-arabia

Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 August 2012 16:27 (10 months ago) Permalink

A bunch of auteurs are clearly seeing something in pattinson that I don't, but okay.

to welcome jer.fairall, pie is served. (jer.fairall), Wednesday, 15 August 2012 16:30 (10 months ago) Permalink

i think they're mostly seeing that he can get their movies financed

WheatusVEVO (Hungry4Ass), Wednesday, 15 August 2012 16:35 (10 months ago) Permalink

even one w/ Naomi Watts? seems like that was taken care of, tho I don't doubt it makes the producers happier.

Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 August 2012 16:40 (10 months ago) Permalink

also the RP solo vehicles thus far haven't set the b.o. on fire.

Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 August 2012 16:45 (10 months ago) Permalink

canks otm

"Batshit crazy," the foam clog tycoon said. (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 15 August 2012 17:10 (10 months ago) Permalink

I'm still curious about how this will turn out: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/05/werner-herzog-one-shot-lee-child

Casting on One Shot, the first adaptation of a Lee Child novel, has already met with a mixed reaction. Many were up in arms at the announcement that Tom Cruise would star as saturnine bruiser Jack Reacher (6ft 5in, 250lb), a former Army man who travels the world with just a toothbrush and a formidable sense of justice.

But the project's credibility took a dramatic rise with the announcement that the director Werner Herzog is to appear in the film as chief baddie The Zec, a former prisoner of war who arranges a conspiracy which frames a sniper for the murders of five people – a conspiracy which Reacher investigates.

Many news organisations quote a source who describes The Zec as an "ageless and shadowy figure". In the book his age (80) is, in fact, fairly precise, likewise his mobility (he's wheelchair-bound) and the number of fingers he has left (not a lot). He's a silent puppetmaster who commands such power over his subordinates that when he tells one of them to shoot themselves, they do so without question.

Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 15 August 2012 18:17 (10 months ago) Permalink

bel ami was terrible not just because of robert pattinson but he is a very very bad and rubbish actor haven't seen anything else he's been in

conrad, Wednesday, 15 August 2012 18:21 (10 months ago) Permalink

Wd love to see Pattinson give Bel Ami another crack.

Eric H., Wednesday, 15 August 2012 18:33 (10 months ago) Permalink

Which Bel Ami?

to welcome jer.fairall, pie is served. (jer.fairall), Wednesday, 15 August 2012 18:49 (10 months ago) Permalink

Jack Reacher

Shameful Dead Half Choogle (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 15 August 2012 19:15 (10 months ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

To adapt D.B.C. Pierre's novel Vernon God Little, "a coming-of-age story set in Texas about a teenager caught up in the aftermath of a high-school shooting committed by his best friend":

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118061066

crazy uncle in the attic (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 23 October 2012 14:10 (7 months ago) Permalink

Hope he casts Tilda Swinton!

Bobby Ken Doll (Eric H.), Tuesday, 23 October 2012 14:11 (7 months ago) Permalink

grrrrrrrrr

crazy uncle in the attic (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 23 October 2012 14:29 (7 months ago) Permalink

Author ~ Coach ~ Goddess (s1ocki), Tuesday, 23 October 2012 15:25 (7 months ago) Permalink

7 months pass...

Jeff, Thursday, 30 May 2013 21:25 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

waht!

arby's, Thursday, 30 May 2013 23:29 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

That's an interesting way to pass the time, I guess?

free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Thursday, 30 May 2013 23:38 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

i imagine myself watching ten, fifteen minutes of this, stopping, FFing to the same point in fitzcarraldo, and never revisiting criterion cardboard edition ever again.

arby's, Thursday, 30 May 2013 23:41 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

amazing

i didn't even give much of a fuck that you were mod (forksclovetofu), Friday, 31 May 2013 04:49 (2 weeks ago) Permalink


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