Werner Herzog: greatest living director? [Archive] - FilmLeaf

oscar jubis

04-05-2007, 10:35 AM

...Resnais, Rivette, de Oliveira, Erice, Saura, Hou, Kar Wai, Eastwood, Antonioni...but yes, Werner Herzog needs to be acknowledged and his films must be seen. And discussed. Some of his viewpoints are rather controversial or at least worthy of close examination. Besides Aguirre (which I watched when I was very young and remains a source of fascination), my favorite Herzog is Lessons of Darkness. He took footage from the end of the Gulf War and took it out of its human and temporal context, to create a type of poetic sci-fi. There are obvious inherent moral issues, but the experiment worked brilliantly and the images are, in my opinion, the most arresting of any Herzog film. Fata Morgana is another Herzog film I find fascinating.

Cobra Verde (1987), the last collaboration with Klaus Kinski, was finally released comercially last month. It's been available on dvd since 2000.

The fictional version of Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) starring Christian Bale is called Rescue Dawn. It will be released next July. It premiered at Toronto 2006. Critical and audience response has been good.

Johann

04-05-2007, 07:45 PM

There are quite a few Herzog films I haven't seen, especially some in his new documentary box set (see his website for details).

I want to see Lessons of Darkness so bad you can't believe it- where and when did you see it?

Rescue Dawn is another one that seems like a can't-miss.

You cannot talk about Herzog without talking about Kinski. A match made in cinematic heaven. In my top three of documentaries of all-time is Herzog's tribute to this incredible, wild, posessed actor My Best Fiend.
It's absolutely riveting.
The final scene had me crying like a baby.
Thanks for that film, Werner.

Jon Rosenbaum loves Fata Morgana- he put it on his 1000 best list in his book "Essential Cinema"

His website has a link to an IFC interview with Henry Rollins, who worships Herzog's films as well. He says something about Los Angeles in there that I agree with. He said what I've been thinking about that city for a long time. (I've been to L.A. on 3 seperate occasions and I loved every trip).

I'm going through Herzog's films one by one at the Ottawa U and I'll post something lengthy some time later.
(Consider it an in-progress project)

oscar jubis

04-05-2007, 11:20 PM

Originally posted by Johann
There are quite a few Herzog films I haven't seen, especialy some in his new documentary box set (see his website for details).
Excellent. Now one can really become a Herzog connoisseur. I've seen all the fiction features and ten of the docs, but he's directed over 50 films! I found his commentaries on the dvds of six Kinski films very entertaining and revealing. I'll watch How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck? and La Soufriere next.

I want to see Lessons in Darkness so bad you can't believe it- where and when did you see it?
I attended public screenings of Fata Morgana, Lessons, W.H. Eats His Shoe and others. I bought the 2-disc dvd with Fata and Lessons as soon as it came out and I've played it several times.

Jon Rosenbaum loves Fata Morgana- he put it on his 1000 best list in his book "Essential Cinema"
Indeed. It's an amazing film. I love Lessons even more. Rosenbaum's take on the film is quite interesting and way off the mark, in my opinion. He equates Riefenstahl using her skills to make a Nazi propaganda film and the decontextualizing of postwar landscapes that's the basis of Lessons in Darkness.

"In his characteristically dreamy Young Werther fashion, Werner Herzog generates a lot of bombastic and beautiful documentary footage out of the post-gulf war oil fires and other forms of devastation in Kuwait, gilds his own high-flown rhetoric by falsely ascribing it to Pascal, and in general treats war as abstractly as CNN, but with classical music on the soundtrack to make sure we know it's "art." This 1992 documentary may be the closest contemporary equivalent to Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, both aesthetically and morally; I found it disgusting, but if you're able to forget about humanity as readily as Herzog there are loads of pretty pictures to contemplate." (JR)

I'm going through Herzog's films one by one at the Ottawa U and I'll post something lengthy some time later.
(Consider it an in-progress project)
Cool

Johann

04-08-2007, 01:37 PM

The poet must never avert his eyes
-Werner Herzog

An excellent primer to read is Between Mirage and History: the films of Werner Herzog, edited by Timothy Corrigan.

It was published in 1986, and the chapters are written by various authors, with only a handful of films discussed in depth. But it's a great primer.

Here's some tidbits I jotted down from it:

Timothy Corrigan:
The most demanding challenge of these films is not their purported density or idiosyncracies but the difficulty of negotiating and mediating the extremities that they provoke.

The films: startling rebellion by a romantic artist, a totally contemporary filmmaker, ALL IS IMAGE, and the density and flamboyancy of those images have established themselves as the only vehicle for significance.

Born Werner Stipetic on Sept. 5th, 1942, Herzog had a "mystical Bavarian childhood", he wrote his first script at age 15, made his first film at 17, worked as a steelworker in Munich, had exotic travels in his teens, lived and worked in Pittsburgh, USA, did TV work under the auspices of NASA in 1966, he stole his first 35mm camera to use for his shorts and has had a variety of strange and violent adventures and misadventures with governments and actors as he struggled to make his movies.

We have to articulate ourselves, otherwise we would be cows in the field
-W. Herzog

Timothy Corrigan again:

A key difficulty here, as with the films, is where to locate such an intentionally chimerical and contrary figure whose character has come to depend more on the substance of the images he projects than on any so-called factual substance. His claim that I Am My Films -the title of
a documentary-interview about him is an indicative irony. For Herzog, he is his films only as a medieval artisan, the figure who disappears into that work and is ultimately dwarfed by the larger weights and energies it testifies to.

With Herzog's films, the genres, the characters and images seem to present and contradict themselves with such a seemingly unmotivated opacity or naivite, developing and taking their form from geography or physical coincidence, that viewers have difficulty pinpointing stable ideas or perspectives on which to base expectations. Herzog's films display themselves like a dense microcosm presented by a master of ceremonies who, with each new show, forces the audience to stand back.

These films stand agressively innocent, taunting audiences to attempt to appropriate them. In nearly all Herzog feature films there is only the phantom of narrative and character. Audiences expecting more conventional direction often find themselves abandoned. Herzog has been under fire from various groups who have accused him of ruthlessly exploiting his subjects, of sanctimoniously hiding behind a poet's cape while using and discarding people and cultures as carelessly as a Hollywood production.

Me, Johann:

Is his work quioxtic megalomania? Myself, I don't really think it's exactly that. It's an enigmatic drive and realization by, yes, a poet.

I really like this quote from Corrigan:

His films are exotic flowers, the cinema is a circus, the spectators all children, the politics fundamentally a function of narcissim

oscar jubis

04-08-2007, 11:47 PM

*Corrigan's book collects some very worthy essays and I like the quotes you provide. Like you state, it was published in 1986. Here's an updated primer I found particularly useful: Werner Herzog (http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/06/herzog.html)

*I think that characterizing Herzog as a "megalomaniac" is a waste of time although, at its most benign, a "megalomaniac" is defined as a person with a passion for doing big things. Pushing a boat up a mountain certainly qualifies. The Herzog "persona" is worthy of discussion, he's led a most interesting and eventful life, but I'm more interested in the films. To give you an example: I'd rather discuss whether Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970) has a fascist or anarchic viewpoint than discuss whether Herzog himself is a fascist (as he was called after the release of that film). Two other films of his have been criticized by leftist intellectuals on ideological grounds: Ballad of the Little Soldier (1984) and Lessons of Darkness (1992).

oscar jubis

04-28-2007, 01:16 PM

I just watched three mid-70s Herzog docs:

The Great Ecstasy of the Woodcarver Steiner (1974)
Walter Steiner's great ecstasy is derived from flying on skis. The Swiss Steiner simply had no competition in this sport, which is much more dangerous than it looks. As great as Steiner looks jumping 175 meters in the air while traveling at about 100 m/h, what I found most captivating was his handling of the pressures created by fans and media.

How Much Wood Would A Woodchuck Chuck (1976)
A precursor to Spellbound and other competition documentaries. Herzog travels to Amish country in Pennsylvania to cover the 1976 World Livestock Auctioneer Contest. Title refers to a tongue-twister the eventual winner uses to warm up for the event, which requires clear and extremely rapid speech. Since there's not enough background on the contestants to foster favoritism on the viewer's part, it's hard to care who wins. I lost interest around the mid-point of the 44-minute duration.

La Soufriere: Waiting for an Inevitable Catastrophe (1976)
Only a handful of residents of the Caribbean island of Guadaloupe refused to evacuate when experts predicted the titular volcano would erupt "with the force of 5 or 6 atomic bombs" (according to the auteur). Herzog and two cameramen arrive by helicopter and find the island eerily deserted. They wander about and interview three men who state they've put their faith in God. They find one of them not far from La Soufriere's crater! We learn via photographs of the tragedy caused by a volcanic eruption in nearby Monserrate in 1902 when thousands died because the mayor refused to order an evacuation. But the "inevitable" tragedy in Guadaloupe never happened. And film buffs worldwide should be thankful. Compelling doc would be even better if it was more self-reflexive and dealt with Herzog's death-defying and his cameramen's willingness to follow him.

Johann

04-28-2007, 02:08 PM

Great stuff- haven't seen any of these.

Johann

05-08-2007, 02:59 PM

Little Dieter Needs To Fly

If you want to be reminded of how lucky you are to be alive, with fresh food at your disposal and a nice comfortable bed to climb into at night, then watch this film.

During parts of it I was saying to myself "No, there's no way that this guy would be alive- he's lying, he's exaggerating- this sounds too outrageous to have actually happened".
But it did. It's all true, and Werner Herzog presents the story of Dieter Dengler with plenty of archive footage.
Herzog weaves interviews, stock footage, newly shot recreations, drawings, sketches with testimony & guidance from the man himself to give us an incredible tale of courage and survival that is more harrowing than any war story I've ever heard.

Dengler was born in Germany and wanted to be a pilot ever since he was a kid watching his town being bombed with his little brother from their living-room window.

After WWII Germany had no Air Force, so he decided to immigrate with his pilot's dreams to the USA to make a better life for himself.
He arrived in New York by ship and after struggling for a few years doing various jobs and trades in the military he finally learned what he had to do to become a pilot.
He ended up in California in the Navy, and was quickly sent to serve as a pilot on an aircraft carrier during the early chaos of the Vietnam War, doing bombing raids.
The slo-mo archive footage of the raids are surreal- like poetic destruction. With each explosion I was wondering "how many just bit the dust there? and there? and there?". Villages napalmed, rice paddies going boom,
jungles exploding in seas of phosphorous...

He was shot down over Laos- you gotta hear his description of the crash- simply unreal.
But the real *rotten* meat of this story is his capture and torture. I won't ruin it for you, but this guy survived sheer fucking hell.
Utter living breathing HELL.
I can see why Herzog would be attracted to this. His last film which premiered at Toronto last year, RESCUE DAWN is the fictional recreation of the escape and rescue starring Christian Bale as Dieter. I haven't seen it, but I hear it's amazing.

Death is the centrepiece of the film, and Herzog narrates how Dengler managed to escape it repeatedly. There is humour among the horrors- you gotta see the 1967 U.S. Army training video on survival- laughed my ass off, with help from Herzog's sarcastic comments.

Dengler was dancing with death on a constant basis- like I said, there were times when watching this film where I just could not believe that he survived. It almost seems to be too much. There's a photo of him where he looks absolutely emaciated, like a holocaust survivor, where he weighed 85 pounds. You won't believe what he goes through.

His rescue is a miracle story, because where he was found- in Thailand- was an area that the friendlies said no pilots would've been lost.
He ended up there after a long escape with his close friend who died a horrible death that Dieter witnessed. Again- I couldn't believe he survived. That would be a question for Herzog, because he didn't tell us how Dieter got away from the fate his friend suffered. By my account, he should've been killed in the same manner. He always escapes death!
Indeed, Dieter says a few times that death just didn't want him.

This is riveting stuff, very powerful testimony to the power of the human spirit & also to the validity of miracles- they do occur to some people.
How this man survived what he went through is astounding.
It opens with a quote from Revelations 9:6:

And in those days shall men seek death
And shall not find it
And shall desire to die
And death shall flee from them

oscar jubis

05-08-2007, 04:16 PM

Simply brilliant review, Johann. This is one of Herzog's most popular films for reasons you convey with passion and acuity. I would only add that the doc includes on-location recreations (which I found quite valuable). Early reviews of Rescue Dawn are very good, particularly Bale's performance. It's one of my most anticipated movies of the summer

Johann

05-14-2007, 01:28 PM

Fitzcarraldo

I am the spectacle in the forest. That slope may look insignificant, but it's gonna be my destiny. -Brian Sweeney-Fitzgerald

The tag-line was "dare to dream the impossible"
and this film is Werner Herzog's masterpiece of faith, inspiration and Operatic dreams.

Herzog calls it his best documentary, and you will get the distinct impression that this is far too real to be "fiction". And it IS real, daddy-O:
as real as you can only imagine hauling a huge steamship over a Peruvian mountain can be.
If you thought Apocalypse Now was an intense journey "up river", brace yourself for a cinematic experience like no other.
Klaus Kinski plays Brian (Don) Sweeney Fitzgerald, a crazed posessed dreamer who wants to strike it rich among the rubber trees that grow in legion and ultimately mount an epic showcase for the Opera of Enrico Caruso.

He takes a rotting old steamboat and transforms it with new paint and a new crew and chugs up the Pachitea River to make his fortune. His crew are rag-tags: a drunk cook, a large native imposing engine room guy, and a grey-bearded captain who knows the Amazon like the back of his hand (he knows the "tastes" of South American rivers). The rest of the crew are various other exotic "deckhands".

They're headed in the wrong direction intentionally, into unknown areas, and you have to stand back in amazement that Herzog emerged from this process of "planning" and "discovery" with a mind-blowing film in the can and the lives of his cast intact.

The film ratchets up the tension when the ship is suddenly blocked from going back by the native Jivaros- they fell gigantic trees across the river from both banks- unreal stuff, brother.
The crew wonders what the hell is going on.
Their cook can actually translate their language- he says they have been waiting for the White God to come and they think this ship might just be it- no ship like that has ever been on that part of the river.
Indeed, they worship the ship. Things get really really weird when they board from their canoes- every crew member thinks they're gonna end up as shrunken heads.

But the Jivaros are actually in a position to help them. And that's when the unbelievable part of this film begins: they are willing to help do what Fitz needs them to do (but not for the reasons he thinks!)
They level the rainforest with machetes and axes and plain-old human fortitude- just like the Egyptian slaves when they built the pyramids.
This "White God" is going over the mountain!
Hundreds of natives using giant logs, a system of winching and pullying and basic primal ingenuity help to drag this bohemoth up the mud caked hillside.
Tragedy occurs but they press on, the ship must get to the other side, to the other river.
Mission gets accomplished, but the reasons for the natives helping to do it becomes clear once the ship gets to the other side.

The shots in this film are achingly beautiful all around- Herzog takes us right there, with very conscious, brimming-with-life immediacy. His Kameraman is Thomas Mauch and he deserves all the credit in the world for achieving some of the most sublime shots in cinema history- like the "platform canopy shot" of the crew above the rainforest- simply stunning.

This production is legendary, which was well documented by Les Blank: Burden of Dreams and I'll review that one soon enough.
Kinski wasn't the first choice to play Fitz- Jason Robards was. Listen to the audio commentary on the DVD to get the whole skinny on why he dropped out. After Robards, Herzog had Jack Nicholson in mind, but Jack was too busy (even though he really loved the script and wanted to be in one of Herzog's films) plus money was a big problem: in the commentary Herzog says money has 2 qualities only: Stupid and Cowardly.
He also didn't think Jack could sustain living in the Peruvian jungle for months, so it was no go for Jack. Warren Oates was the other choice, but he died just when they were preparing! Another wild casting choice was Mick Jagger, who was gonna play a "retarded British sidekick" to Fitz- but again, Mick in the Peruvian jungle for months? Fuck no. Jagger was really pumped to star in a Herzog film tho- Herzog says he was willing to even chip in some money.

I could write a hell of a lot about this insane masterpiece of a film that has Holy status among film buffs. Just see it and stand back in absolute awe of the vision and FEARLESSNESS of Werner Herzog, filmmaker.

Johann

05-16-2007, 11:22 AM

Herzog's Wheel of Time has been reviewed beautifully already on this site by Howard Schumann and readers of this thread who love Herzog should read it- he reviews it better than I could. He understands Herzog and his review is just great.

The Wild Blue Yonder has been reviewed already as well, by Trevor, and I'll add my two cents. I'm buying the DVD tomorrow at HMV. I've read great things about it. It deals with aliens & us humans destroying this fantastic planet.

Herzog's films are simply amazing.

Johann

11-19-2007, 10:15 AM

Grizzly Man

Werner Herzog's name got a lot of well-deserved attention for this doc on Timothy Treadwell, a man who lived with grizzly bears in Katmai National Park for 13 summers.

The only defence of Treadwell that I have is the exact same as Herzogs': the images he captured with his camera are worth their weight in gold. Some shots Treadwell achieved are so rare and beautiful that you can almost forgive his actions around the bears.

"ALMOST" is the key word.
My immediate impressions of Treadwell were that of annoyance.
He seems flaming gay yet he's not. (but wishes he was at one point).
He declares himself a "kind warrior" and makes stupid statements to his camera like "I will be the Master" around the bears. Treadwell would get on my nerves in short order in the bush, with his ridiculous pontifications and crazy-brave behavior.
He says he respects the bears, he says he knows he can be eaten or mutilated at any time yet he seems to throw caution to the wind a lot of the time. And don't get me started on his naming the bears & foxes: Mr. Chocolate, etc.. The guy is a fool to me.
He was fuckin' crazy to get so close- swimming with them, hanging out right next to them as they search for food in streams and such- the dude should've died much sooner in my estimation.
He was out to lunch to think that he could make hay with wild grizzly bears. They're WILD, douche bag. Rip you to shreds in two seconds. And this goof is acting like he IS a bear, saying shit like "I have to mutually mutate" and growling at the bears the same way they do to each other. Yeah, you love bears.
Yeah, you want to protect them. Great! Just keep your fucking distance asshole! YOU. WILL. DIE.
And you did.

The pilot Sam Egli said Treadwell got what he deserved and I agree. Even that PhD. (Sven Haakanson) said it:
He tried to be a bear.
He tried to act like a bear.
You don't invade on their territory. For him to act like a bear they way he did- to me it was the ultimate of disrespecting the bear and what the bear represents.
Herzog: But he tried to protect the bears, didn't he?
Sven: Ah, I think he did more damage to the bears because when you habituate bears to humans, they think all humans are safe. Timothy Treadwell crossed the boundary.

I agree with Herzog in that the images caught by Treadwell's camera often show sheer natural beauty that most Hollywood studios can't conceive of. We're lucky to have his footage to show us a National Park's rich visual splendor, replete with wild animals that Treadwell often gets real close to.
Is he fearless or foolhardy?
I think he's a combination of both.
You gotta be to go out into that park with no gun.
(But he says he would never ever kill a bear, so...)

Grizzly Man is powerful.
A great cautionary tale.
It's yet another amazing doc from the Master Werner Herzog.

oscar jubis

11-21-2007, 10:23 AM

I've been thinking about Werner Herzog relative to the awesome Ten Canoes, Rolf de Heer's collaboration with members of an aboriginal tribe from North-central Australia. The film uses a narrator to tell two parallel stories, one set in the 1930s filmed in b&w, and another filmed in color set centuries ago. Ten Canoes opens with a creation myth that immediately reminded me of Herzog's Fata Morgana then weaves an amazing piece of anthropological fiction that would be an absolutely delight for the maker of Where the Green Ants Dream. I wonder if he's seen it.

Johann

08-20-2008, 11:36 PM

Encounters at the End of the World

I went through many emotions watching Herzog's Encounters, and I think it may be the film that sits atop his filmography summit.

It seems at times as if he's really putting you on, and when I learned of his staging of scenes with Dieter Dengler, I was more apt to burst out laughing at some scenes and scenarios, "at the end of the world".

Herzog has moments of surreal beauty here, some really sublime times, especially underneath the ice of Antarctica, where he captures some ethereal, otherworldly ambiance and soul, real celestial moments.

His use of singers and choirs and the choices of songs they sing add some serious emotional, soul-stirring resonance.

This film is dedicated to Roger Ebert, and I got the vibe of a real inside-cinematic-joke, coupled with powerful, mute-exalted glorious imagery that could only be captured by this most eccentric of filmmmakers. Herzog is in a class all by himself, alone to face the universe's most toughest questions, with humour and grace and the relentless pursuit of the almighty image that will give salvation to it's humble viewer. Ebert must've been smiling through the whole screening. I sure was.

Amazing man, Werner Herzog.
He goes into fascinating areas and adds his own historic stamp.
Depending on what you know about this filmmaker depends on how much you love it.

Johann

08-21-2008, 09:00 AM

Yes, some scenes are staged. Painfully funny so, in some cases, like the "talent" show and the woman who just goes on and on in this monotone voice about her "adventures" (all made up I'm sure) like travelling across Africa in a garbage truck.
Love it, Werner.
Those were the scenes that made me laugh the hardest, along with the "buckethead" survival in a snowstorm sequence near the beginning.

Made for Discovery Films, Herzog goes to several basecamps or outposts to talk with the "travellers" and scientists who do research or work in Antarctica. Their stories vary greatly, and they're all interesting in one way or another.
Herzog assures us that he did not set out to make "another film about penguins", and his voiceover/narration is here to assault you. He speaks *seemingly* omnipotently, with a thick Bavarian accent. His pronounciation of some words should give you a laugh too. I've come to love his voiceovers. A Herzog voiceover is something that's hard to forget...He asks a researcher who studies penguins about gay penguins.
The man says he's never seen any evidence of that but he goes into a story about situations where you have two male penguins and one female..
Herzog asks if he's seen any penguins go crazy.
The man says "No, but they do get disoriented sometimes.."
Funny funny stuff. (and I'm paraphrasing here- go see the fucking film. It's the best non-fiction film of the year (with much staging in it :)

We learn about seals and how they survive in such a climate, and how they make noises to communicate with each other that sounds like Pink Floyd? I laughed at this bit. Herzog has some scientists put their heads to the ice and listen to the symphony of seal-speak.

He gives us a tour of Shackleton's original camp, preserved as it originally was, 100 years ago. He also shows us vintage stock footage of the Shackleton expedition and the recent underwater/under-ice footage that brought him to Antarctica in the first place.
That footage is astonishing.
It's like footage from another time-space continuum.
Another planet.
Strange sea-creatures, floating, intrauterine-like, with celestial voices, choirs accompanying it. Very Kubrick/2001...
Darling, Let's not ask for the stars
We already have the moon

Wonderful film, a triumph in a career of triumphs.
Herzog also has some philosophies that he presents in direct and not-so direct ways. This is a film that should give you a lot to think about. The shots inside ice caves, the shots of the vast, barren Hoth-like South Pole are quite arresting, quite visually stunning. There's also volcanos on that continent- we get great P.O.V. shot of the mouth and rim of a massively huge volcano, where researchers have set up equipment and cameras to monitor the volcanic activity. More laughs in this scene too...just watch it.

The scenes with the ice divers was incredible as well.
Any fan of cinema or travelling or pursuit of knowledge, check this Masterwork out. Extremely entertaining and extremely compelling.

Johann

08-23-2008, 12:08 PM

"oddly revealing distillation of his career-long nexus of obsessions"?

Pretty fancy speak for Herzog just doing what he loves.
The lost penguin sequence was funny as hell to me as well.
I laughed hard man. I thought it must be all staged, what with Herzog's dead-serious voiceover and just the premise of it.
The penguin wasn't really lost either- he had a purpose didn't he?
He walked out there alone, determined to meet his fate, no?
I can't remember Herzog's exact words over the footage of the penguin waddling across the vast ice but I was laughing, man. It just seemed ridiculous to me.
And everybody around me in the theatre wasn't laughing either, which I found strange- I guess they bought into Herzog's making the scene haunting and disturbing. Who else would dream up such a scenario? Do you actually believe that there are penguins who can't take it anymore and decide to go their own way?
To face certain death? Who have no sense to stay where the food is? Where the fellow penguins are?
This is an example of a penguin losing it, and that point was already dismissed. Penguins don't do this.
Herzog is provoking the viewer.
I found it hilarious and awesome.

Very true that Herzog is dealing with themes of nature and man and existence in general.

I haven't seen The Wild Blue Yonder- I was going to buy it on DVD last year sight unseen but the HMV I where I used to shop in Ottawa sold out. I haven't gotten around to ordering it yet. Same with the Criterion Burden of Dreams.
This thread will be complete someday...
And I'm sad to say that I will only be seeing a handful of films at Toronto this year- work requires my presence...Movies do not pay my bills... ha ha

Chris Knipp

08-23-2008, 12:30 PM

jOHANN--i MOVED YOUR eNCOUNTERS remarks over to a thread for that new film. Can you re-post this there? So we can have the film indexed separaely.

Johann

08-23-2008, 12:35 PM

I don't know how to do it without re-typing it.

Chris Knipp

08-23-2008, 12:43 PM

You need to learn how to cut and paste. It's really easy--and an essential tool of computer use.

Scan the text you want to copy with your moush clicker, and hold down Control + C.

Click into the new space where you want to past in the text. Hit Control + V. It will be transferred there.

Johann

08-23-2008, 12:53 PM

My head hurts...

All this technical jargon..
Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi.
You're my only hope...

Johann

11-20-2009, 03:11 PM

Heart of Glass

Everything is in this land, and Everything is RUBY.

Heart of Glass is a very mysterious and enigmatic film, one that defies anyone to predict what will happen from one moment to the next. It's so esoteric that it will test the patience of just about anyone. I can easily see most regular moviegoers getting completely bored and confused without a solid narrative.

I loved it and was totally engaged, and that's because of my profound interest in Werner Herzog's films. Heart of Glass opens with the unique and disturbing music of Popul Vuh over an image of Hias, a prophetic herdsman, who has a major role in the film with his premonitions. Hias speaks some unsettling words about the end of the world, looking "into the cataract" of the collapsing earth, experiencing vertigo as he's caught in an undertow, which draws him, "sucks me down".

It's a dank and bleak landscape all around him, and some powerful outdoor/nature shots grab your peepers and hold you entranced at different points throughout the movie. Three stories unfold in this movie, one of Hias and his visions, one of the Ruby Glass, a mysterious red glass that whose maker has just died, and the townsfolk want to know the secret of how to make it, how to blow or form that particular type of ruby red glass. And of course the "buried layers of mass hysteria"- (from the interior DVD sleeve notes).

This film is famous in Herzog's filmography for the fact that he hypnotized all of his actors and had them perform hypnotized.
It creates an unsettling ambience and gives the viewer an alienation that is hard to describe. This is a very hard movie to review. To me it was totally poetic and beautiful overall, but the scenes in and of themselves don't seem to have points or purposes, other than to establish the fact that everyone is superstitious, paranoid, in great fear and on the brink of madness.

Herzog was inspired by a German folk legend, according to the DVD liner notes. I guess the "Ruby Glass" had a powerful effect on some townsfolk in Germany at the start of the Industrial Revolution.
There are haunting images, specifically of nature/forests, the blast furnaces where glass is created/blown, and the final ten minutes were particularly poetic to me, in an otherworldly, oddly detached way. The aerial shots of the massive jagged rocks of an island in the ocean were awesome to witness.
At the one-hour mark there is a sequence of the glas blowers at work that is beautiful. No dialogue for about 3 or 4 minutes, just the artisans blowing and forming and shaping glass into various objets d'art. (A horse is made at one point- very beautiful to see)

Don't ask me to explain it anymore than I have.
See it yourself and make sense of the bizarre mise-en-scenes.
It's one hell of an inscrutable work of cinematic art...

Johann

11-20-2009, 05:40 PM

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

A caravan reaches a city...

This film is proof Werner Herzog can do the "period film".
The settings and costumes and music are excellent.
It's early 19th century Nuremburg Germany, and the story is true.
Herzog dramatizes the story of Kaspar Hauser.

The "Enigma of the Century" is a man who appeared in the town in 1828, from nowhere, abandoned by his "caregivers".
He couldn't walk and only made grunting sounds. He couldn't speak or write or understand barely any stimuli. The reason for this is he was locked in a dark cellar for God knows how long, given only bread to eat. He'd never had any contact with people, animals or even trees. The opening titles tell us To this day no one knows where he came from- or who set him free.

Herzog cast Bruno S. to play Kaspar, a man with a somewhat similar background to Kaspar's. He was treated horribly in his youth too (he spent 23 of his first 26 years in institutions), and Herzog is on record saying that the story of Kaspar Hauser is also the story of Bruno S. When Herzog found him, he was a street musician and a factory worker, age 40.
He gives an oddly beautiful performance, transforming from a hopeless reject of society into a man who has his own reasoning and even play a piano. He very very slowly understands things and events around him in his unfortunate situation. He is molded by being taught how to walk, write, eat, speak (a great scene is a little girl trying to teach him a rhyme), bathe, learn about Christ:
For the peace of God is higher than all mortal coils....Keep our hearts in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
At one point near the end of the movie he runs out of church and says:
The singing of the congregation sounds like awful howling! Then the pastor starts to howl! He is urged back to the church.
Kaspar endures being a circus freak, with 3 others in a sideshow, all of them dubbed "The Four Riddles of the Spheres": The Tiny King (a midget), The Young Mozart (a total joke- he's a sullen, mute lad, who the ringmaster says is completely engrossed in the zones of twilight, Hombrecito, a Spanish/ Indian wildman who plays the flute and Kaspar, "The Foundling".

Bruno S. has a presence. His eyes are intense, alive.
He embodies the character in an oddly appealing way.
Herzog says that he is very grounded, that he is the only one in his orbit who has logic- everyone else is exploiting him or pushing him in directions that aren't really in his best interests.
Watch it yourself. It's a unique movie, with a very unique protagonist. I drew similarities with A Clockwork Orange, even though the two films are polarly different. 2 completely different times and places. Some UFI: The adagio that is heard at one point is the same one that the Doors covered and Oliver Stone used over the grave shots of Jim Morrison in The Doors. My ears perked up when I heard that. (It was composed by Remo Giazotto).

I would like to know where Herzog got the footage of Kaspar's dream on his deathbed- the desert caravan with all the camels- it looked really old.

Johann

11-21-2009, 12:07 PM

Stroszek

Who knows what fate will bring?

This is an appropriate film to watch after seeing The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser. It's another showcase for the unique "acting" talents of Bruno S, last name: STROSZEK.

Herzog promised him the role of WOYZECK, an adaptation of a theatre fragment by Georg Buchner. But he soon realized that Bruno was not the man for the part of a soldier going insane. (Klaus Kinski was cast in his place). Bruno was quite upset about it and Herzog promised to write a movie for him. Stroszek is that movie. It's way more autobiographical than Kaspar Hauser, and even uses Bruno's apartment, musical instruments & Berlin haunts. He basically plays himself, a terrorized man who helps out a woman named Eva and experiences massive grief for his troubles. His wacky old man neighbor is the other major figure in this tragic movie, and all three of them decide to escape their shitty situation by planning a move to Wisconsin, USA.
An American redneck who lives in a mobile home that knows the old man from an air force base in Ramstein writes and says they can live and get set up with jobs easily. Eva convinces Bruno that it's a great decision, after all, everybody in America is rich!
How are they going to finance this move?
Eva will come up with the money. How? As a Ho, of course. Her stock in trade! She's great with the fucky-fuck!
Sure enough, she raises the money to get the old man, Bruno and herself to New York. Beautiful skyline shots of NYC- they are tourists briefly and then head to Wisconsin.

Everything seems to go well- Bruno gets a job helping at a mechanics' garage, Eva lands a gig waiting tables at a truckers' diner, and the old man(Clemens Scheitz) thinks he's discovered a way to measure animal magnetism! All's well, right?
Nope.
The American Dream morphs into an absolute nightmare.
I won't tell you what happens. You have to see for yourself how this "dream move" disintegrates into the most bizarre, warped tragedy ever filmed.
I just wish Herzog would've shown us EXACTLY what happens to the three of them. We're left to our own ideas as to what the actual end is for these 3 souls but we're given a fairly good indication, and it ain't very rosy...

Much has been made of the bizarro ending with the dancing chicken, the piano-playing chicken, the drum-playing duck and fireman rabbit. Yes- they are real and they are quite disturbing.
Check it out for yourself.
It's a movie you'll never forget.
Bleaker than hell, odd to the max, the only thing that I truly enjoyed was the sexiness of Eva Mattes.

A film that could only come from the mind of Werner Herzog.
And it's the only one in his whole canon that is set in modern/contemporary times (1976 Berlin and USA)

* and I heard that Adagio again! This time it was on a piano..and very brief... I take it to symbolize the tragic trajectory to come...*

Johann

11-21-2009, 02:36 PM

Even Dwarfs Started Small

Possibly the greatest cult film ever made.
Why?
Mentally ill German midgets in an insane asylum take over the place. Or is it an insane asylum? Might as well be...it's an institution of some kind...
They overthrow the dictatorship that mars their tortured existence. They tear down their Master's favorite palm tree with fire and ropes. They try to get 2 of their fellow inmates to wed and consummate the union, against Hombre's wishes. (Hombre is one of the main characters who giggles in a most disturbing way- Herzog even ends the film with his fucked up giggling).
And that's just SOME of the insanity contained in this picture....

One of the midget ladies collects insects and dresses them up in wedding attire. 2 blind midgets who wear goggles are tormented and they engage in weird behavior most of the time. Pepe, a rebel midget, is lashed seated into a chair, while the sole management midget tries to reclaim order.

The film is black and white, with no sense of time. (Amazing for a 40-year old piece of work)
The movie is timeless, like a forgotten David Lynch film.
Seriously, if you didn't know Herzog made it, you'd without a doubt say it was Lynch. It's got real David Lynch aspects, Eraserhead aspects. What can I say? The midgets kill a pig, they crucify a monkey and they smash evrything from typewriters to dinner plates in a miasma of chaotic insanity. Some midgets are taller than others, and to hear their German voices yell and scream and talk like Alvin, Simon and Theodore chipmunk is beyond surreal.
I was just stunned watching it.
How did Herzog make this?!
How is this film not banned?
It's jaw droppingly shocking and powerful.
Wow.
I'll always be haunted by this one.....

Johann

11-21-2009, 02:53 PM

Stroszek and Dwarfs have a truck going round and round in circles in them for periods of time. I'll be on the lookout for the same in all his other films. (Like Kubrick and his bathrooms..)

BTW, not a single non-"little person" is seen in "Dwarfs"- every scene is midgets/dwarfs. There are nude shots of naked ladies in a magazine, but that's it for adult humans over 4 feet tall being seen in it.
There are some absolutely unforgettable images in the movie.
I can't even really describe them. But there were a couple shots that I wouldn't have minded in an 8x10- framed. One of the midget girls is sexy to me...(I know, I'm a little warped.)

Johann

11-22-2009, 03:12 PM

Nosferatu the Vampyre

Mother Superior.....stop the black coffins!

Fantastic film. Brilliant and very powerful.
Great evocative music and images, with truly impressive cinematography and musical flourishes by Popul Vuh & Florian Fricke. (with some Wagner and Charles Gounod pieces thrown in for good measure).

Herzog has said that F.W. Murnau's 1921 Nosferatu is the greatest work in German cinema history. He remade it way better in my opinion, adding the cinematic oomph that the story needed even though the original is quite fine in and of itself.
I don't know if I prefer Francis Ford Coppola's version better or Herzog's. They're both Masterpieces to me. Both certified classics.
Herzog's might have the slight edge due to the better and more believable performance of the role of Jonathan Harker, played by Bruno Ganz. He's perfect as Harker. Keanu Reeves was badly miscast. Dull as fucking cardboard. And Isabelle Adjani is also way better in the role of Harker's flame than Winona Ryder, but Winona was OK.
As far as the role of Dracula goes, both Gary Oldman and Klaus Kinski did it phenomenal justice. Both were Class.
But Kinski has that extra little wierdness, he gets the character down so cold it's truly chilling. I felt he should've won an Oscar.
I mean shit, how mesmerizing and creepy is he in Herzog's version? It's utterly awesome how freaky and profoundly strange he is. He's replaying Max Schreck's bone-chilling example from the silent days, yes, but wowza is his aura in this film the bomb....

Not only is he able to make your skin crawl, but he makes Dracula sympathetic. He makes you feel sorry for his longings, another reason why I feel he deserved an Oscar. He is 100% in the skin of this character. Balls to the wall as an undead creature "haunting like a black wolf".

The locations, settings, costumes, ambience are all perfect.
The sailing ship and the whole production design terrifically evoke 1850 Weimar and Transylvania. (At least I think they do- I've never been to either place in my life).

There's no gore and very little blood here. This is a riveting character study, not an out-and-out horror film. It's simply beautiful to witness. An essential film to watch for film buffs.
Arguably the best adaption of the Dracula legend ever lensed.
Herzog endured critical heat for just re-shooting Murnau's original, but this lifts the whole thing to a new, astounding height. A remake that was well worth the effort and came off pitch perfect. It's absolutely perfect. It's dark, it's lyrical, it's sheer cinematic poetry to me.

Johann

11-22-2009, 09:24 PM

Lessons Of Darkness

One of the greatest films I've ever witnessed.
I happened to see it with a friend today who's uncle was on a Canadian team to put out the fires of Kuwait. ("Red Adair" was his company). He gave me a very valuable commentary on it. Herzog is not political one shred in Lessons of Darkness. I wrestled with whether or not to keep the politics out of a review and I can't.

It just angers me so much.

George Bush Senior is responsible for one of the greatest natural disasters ever bestowed on the earth. (And not just his son). Because of money and his desire for complete control over the oil those oil wells were set on fire. 700 of 'em. The government basically told Bush to go fuck himself because he wanted 100% control of the oil.
The fires were figured to take 2 years to extinguish. It took 6 months. Herzog took a small film crew to Kuwait to film the disaster in a way that shames CNN beyond your wildest imagination, with only one month left before the last fire was put out. He got absolutely astonishing footage. We see an absolute wasteland of oil sands where nothing will ever grow. Vegetation and animal life are all but extinct there. Giant lakes of oil that stretch farther than Lake Superior. Teams of workers work to cap the oil taps and extinguish the oxygen supply with dynamite. It made all the men millionaires. It's a very specific job, containing these types of fires.
The pressure of the oil spewing from the ground is insane.
The flames reach up for miles it seems.

Herzog filmed this part of the world with aerial shots and points of view that just stun you into silence. Arresting images indeed, Oscar... Holy shit.

I'll write more about it tomorrow.
This film deserves more time and consideration.
I just saw it and I'm in a state of mind that leaves me numb.
One thing is for sure, the "Christian" George Bush Sr. ain't ever getting into heaven.

Johann

11-23-2009, 02:47 PM

Yes, nobody really wants to admit that it was Daddy Warbucks Bush who instigated the actions that led to the oil wells being turned on and set ablaze, to burn and spew black smoke billowing bigger than any cloud formation you've ever seen in your life.
Don't let anyone tell you that Saddam was the problem with Kuwait. He was out-muscled by an even bigger dictator: "Poppy"
Bush Sr. Do your own research on it.
I was told POINT BLANK by someone related to a man on the ground who put out the fires that that disaster was 100% Bush's fault. Bush wasn't "protecting the oil fields"- that's a steaming pile of black-as-oil horseshit. Believe me.
There's an article from the Huffington Post from November 13th 2009 (less than 2 weeks ago!)by Jackson Williams that references it. Search/google "Bush oil buddies divvy up Iraqi oil".
You'll find out.

The dilemma was "do we let the taps burn out?"
Or do we cap them, lessening the massively catastrophic devastation to the environment? The decision was made to cap them. Herzog gives us mute glory in images to illustrate this task.
The film is only 54 minutes, but it might as well be a 3 hour opus, that's how great it is. That hour rocketed by for me.
It's utterly staggering how amazing Lessons Of Darkness is.
The shots of the bubbling molten oil was poetic. Just as if he was filming lava from a volcano. In one scene you see an oil worker toss a molotov cocktail into the spewing flame of a well that explodes on impact. Incredible. What a historic record! Herzog should be recognized/awarded for this film. It's just harrowing and riveting at the same time, with glorious camerawork. Celestial helicopter shots. Just like the opening credits of Kubrick's The Shining. Elegant and powerful imagery that no one else on the planet has ever achieved. This documentary is exactly the kind of journalism we need: poetic presentation of historic, in-the-moment circumstantial chaos and destruction. How else can you get that elemental and ethereal "Ecstatic Truth" that Herzog has been mining his whole career?
His crowning achievement is Lessons Of Darkness.
See it. Think about it. Marvel at it.
It's just plain astounding.

Johann

11-23-2009, 03:04 PM

Mirage

PARADISE ON EARTH?

This is one of the masterpieces of cinema.
And to think it was never going to be released by Herzog!

It's the most poetic film in his whole filmography.
He shot miles and miles and miles of footage in the Sahara desert that was edited by Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus into a 76-minute visually breathtaking documentary.
Narrated by German film theorist Lotte Eisner, it's peppered with excerpts from the Mayan creation myth Popul Vuh and has wonderful music on the soundtrack. A mix of Leonard Cohen, bizarre "brothel music" and choirs, among other music pieces.
The music just washes over you with the images.
It's just shot after shot and slow, endless tracks in remote areas of Africa. Glorious. You see some oil taps on fire in it just like Lessons of Darkness, so I can see why Anchor Bay released the two films on the same DVD.

If you want narrative, look elsewhere. This film is an experience for your intellect and your emotions. You FEEL this movie, you don't watch it. You just get taken away on clouds of brilliant cinematography with divine music pumped through it.
It's very similar to 2001: A Space Odyssey in that the images are exceedingly powerful, complimented by genius musical selections.

It's short, but with the stunning visuals, you won't complain about it. You could show it on loop for eternity and feel completely at ease that someone on this earth captured a barren landsape in way that brings out the raw beauty that people don't normally associate with climates of this type.

It's another high-ranker in Herzog's canon.
Maybe it claims the top spot.
Someone could debate that.
The man was a born filmmaker, who is open to any artistic possiblity that crosses his mind and lenses.
I learned that the word "Lightning" is "Blitz" in German, and that only drowning men see Jesus Christ for what he is.
Thanks to Leonard Cohen and Werner Herzog.
The best musical/cinematic pairing in history?....

Johann

11-25-2009, 08:43 AM

Rescue Dawn

Come on, search planes....where have you gone?

Masterpiece.
Rescue Dawn is a riveting dramatization of the true story of Dieter Dengler, a miracle man. He survived sheer utter hell as a prisoner of war until he made a daring escape. This story was detailed in Herzog's documentary Little Dieter Needs To Fly, already reviewed here by me.

I found out how Dieter got away from the horrifying fate his fellow escapee Steve Zahn was doomed to, and I'm not sure it's plausible. Those villagers SCATTERED. At that moment? For that reason? OK...
Again, it's utterly amazing that Dieter got out of there alive.
He could've been scalped, shot, tortured to death or hung from a tree in the jungle at any moment. He definitely had someone upstairs watching over him. It just seems too lucky for him to escape the way he did. The prisoners are fed maggots, they are locked into a foot vise at night, and Christian Bale goes through a fantastic transformation- his weight loss is incredible. He goes from a very healthy pilot to an emaciated P.O.W. in no time.
It's remarkable what he'll do for a role.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: he is a profound and fascinating actor. Totally fearless and totally into his characters.
I don't know why he hasn't won an Oscar by now.
The man is just CLASS, Man.

The cinematography is stellar. Gorgeous shots of the vegetation and landscapes, par for the course for Herzog. He is one at peace with nature, that's for sure. He captures natural geographic beauty like no other filmmaker.
Bale is in almost every single scene as Dieter, and he carries the picture. You feel his situation deeply. He is very patriotic for a German immigrant, telling his captors "America gave me my wings- I will not sign that", refusing to sign a piece of paper denouncing the U.S. government. I don't know how he wasn't executed after that display of patriotism.

This film is a must-see. It documents one of the most harrowing stories of the Viet Nam war, maybe even the MOST harrowing. (MY LAI, or "Pinkville" is a whole other matter..)
If he wasn't rescued when he was, his mental hallucinations would have spiralled out of control I think.
I feel he wouldn't have had much more strength to continue running, because he weighed less than 100 pounds, had no energy, and he was tormented by thoughts and dreams of his friend who was killed in a horrifying way. He was lucky as hell to get rescued when he did. A miracle story. A must-see story.
It'll make you feel damn glad you're in the free country you're in, enjoying fresh food and sleeping soundly at night.

Johann

11-25-2009, 11:50 AM

Where The Green Ants Dream

This is my least favorite Herzog film even though I understand and support the message.
Dedicated to the memory of his mother, Herzog went to South Australia and made a film about "the irrevocable tragedy of false progress".

Bruce Spence (the gyro pilot Jedediah in The Road Warrior and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome) is a geologist for Ayers, a uranium mining company. They want to mine for the richest deposits, only it's on a site that is sacred to the Aborigines, who are passive yet very determined to prevent the descration of the land that houses the "Green Ants Who Dream", the place of the origin of all life, in their belief.

These are extremely primitive and extremely spiritual natives, and they won't budge an inch, even taking it all the way to court.
A bulldozer driver almost buries a few of them, he's so angry.
Ants?! DREAMING?! Why the fuck can't they dream somewhere else?! he shouts.

Spence apologizes to the Aborigines and tries to explain to them that what we're doing here is exploring options. We don't know the geological substructure. We're listening to the earth's interior. The natives don't really understand.
One of them replies:
Are you Christian?
Spence says "I was raised that way"
What would you do if I bring a bullozer and dig up your church? The English that the natives speak is remarkable because I'm quite sure they don't speak a word of it or understand a single phrase yet Herzog has them speak English. How did he teach them?
Did they hit their marks on cue? Seems that way...This is Herzog's first ever film completely in English.

This is basically a movie about the white man moving in yet again on territory that doesn't belong to him and exploiting it for financial gain. There is little in this film that engaged me besides the beautiful cinematography, which is always great in Herzog's films. I'm down with Native rights, no matter what country you're from. The only thing that I like about Canada's current Prime Minister is that he apologized to the Native Indians in this country. He atoned for travesties perpetrated by the Canadian government in the 20th Century that are quite unforgivable. But Harper apologized in a very respectful way (something that should've been done years and years ago but wasn't) and the healing has begun.

Herzog's film shows the rift between modern progress and human beliefs/rights. Another reason the film doesn't satisfy me is that it ends without resolving the matter in any significant way.
Both parties understand each other much better, but nothing really changes. The acting wasn't very good to me. Bruce Spence is serviceable, but he didn't move me in any way. And neither did the natives. They have zero personality. They might as well be statues, for all the animation they give off...

They are given a gift of an airplane, but they have no runway...
They use it anyway, to sit in the cockpit and stare East, where the ants fly once a year, after they grow wings after dreaming of the origins of the earth....yessir, exciting stuff, huh? Eventually a drunk native takes off with the plane....yeehah!

I probably won't watch this film again. It's too dull.

Johann

11-25-2009, 03:35 PM

There was another truck going round and round in circles in FATA MORGANA. The first time in a Herzog?

And that adagio (Albinoni's in G minor) was heard yet again, in Rescue Dawn- in another version, a much more subtle and brief soundtrack.
Herzog loves that piece of music and so do I!

Lessons of Darkness has a piece of music from Wagner, I think.
The same piece of music you hear in John Boorman's Excalibur when the sword is hoisted in the air from the Lady in the Lake. I love that music too...powerful sounds for cinema..

Johann

06-07-2011, 04:31 PM

BURDEN OF DREAMS

"Adversity is a natural way in which a film is created. In a way, filmmaking is not welcome to the regular world. And you have to anticipate that there will be controversies, there will be adversities. From all sides there are forces intruding on you, and you have to keep them at distance. And you have to move on"- Werner Herzog

This is an amazing documentary made by Les Blank and edited by Maureen Gosling. The Criterion DVD comes with a reproduction book of their journal writings.

Werner Herzog had 40% of Fitzcarraldo in the can when he lost his star Jason Robards due to dysentery.
Deep in South America, near the Ecuador border, Herzog had been filming his dream: a sisyphus-like story, "Challenging the Impossible", as it were, with culture baron Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald. Holding a big Opera in the jungle. With the music of Caruso.
He fails to get the money, so he decides to exploit the natural resources of the area and becomes a rubber baron.
The film documents a painful victory for the man when 1100 savage natives help him get his riverboat "opera house"over a mountain and onto a parallel river.

Jason Robards dropped out and was not allowed back to the production, forbidden on doctor's orders.
For 6 weeks the movie was on hold.
Mick Jagger also left the production after Robards. The vault footage of his "acting" with Jason Robards was hilarious to see.
Glad his role was eliminated. The final product is as Awesome as it is precisely because of the lack of such a weird casting choice as Jagger.
Watch it and tell me you don't snicker when you see Jagger and Robards in that bell tower....

Herzog states to Les Blank's camera: If I abandon this film then I abandon my dreams.

If he doesn't get the film back on track, he'll have wasted a lot of time and money and resources and yes, his dream on a failed project.
Many local natives are hired by Herzog and his crew, because they do great work and they love being paid twice what the going rate is/was in South America at that time. That's how he was able to get such astounding footage of the ship being hauled up that slope.
Herzog offered toilets, generators, beer and cold showers.
He hired the real deal locals, who were more than happy to do the film. But problems were persistent: terrible false rumours circulated that Herzog was responsible for genocides in other countries, and some shitty nefarious people circulated holocaust photos to the natives and told them it was the work of Herzog, their employer. Just plain evil dirty tricks.
The terrain was a huge problem. Lots of mud. Herzog's bulldozer kept breaking down, parts were flown in, agonizing waits in the jungle, and Herzog says at one point that sometimes he just likes to be in an easy chair and have a tea beside him. He questions his profession.

The 3 boats that were used in the film all get banged up pretty badly. Lots of great footage to gaze at of the boats in (and out of) action.
Klaus Kinski was hired to replace Jason Robards and there's good footage of him as well. He expresses feeling trapped in the jungle, and he is. He says the contract is signed. Nothing he can do. Nowhere he can go. Claudia Cardinale is a beauty. Love her footage too...

Herzog says it was a geographical decision to shoot where he did. He had few options. The government of the country had started letting natives settle in the forests. Natives were claiming rights, and Herzog's film crew were looked upon with mixed reactions.
This doc was made in 1982, and it states that by 2010 the Amazon basin will be cleared.
That's something to confirm, to look up!

Herzog respects his native actors. He doesn't want to disturb their natural habits, their natural ways of doing things.
He calls them "Lions".
They are authentic, and they do many different tasks, like being watchmen at night and so on.
Some of his cast are hit with arrows- big ass ones!- in the middle of the night. Nobody was killed, but a couple people got serious wounds. One guy got one right through his neck. How he lived I don't know.

This is an amazing film. If you respect Herzog at all, then this is essential. See it at all costs.

Johann

06-17-2011, 01:26 PM

Oscar mentioned TEN CANOES in this thread, and I watched it last night.
Very unique and remarkable film.
The editing is unlike any film I've seen, and so is the storytelling.
This aboriginal story was staged (I think?) but it is as real as they come.
Beautiful cinematography, interesting close-ups of aboriginal faces, and the whole thing feels like it's happening in a parallel universe.
One of the singularly unique movies I've ever seen.
Well worth your time.

Chris Knipp

06-17-2011, 01:50 PM

I reviewed TEN CANOES during its US theatrical release in 2007 and you can read my review here. (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=833)
This cool film is significant because the first film in Aboriginal language. Also, of course, a unique story and unique storytelling.

Howard Schumann also reviewed it on Cinescene. (http://www.cinescene.com/howard/tencanoes.html)

Oscar and I had an exchange (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2202-Best-Of-2007-Filmleaf-Members-Lists&p=19363#post19363) about this on Filmleaf in 2008.

Johann

06-20-2011, 12:40 PM

Excellent. You covered it all in that review. Not much else needs to be said.
It is a must-see in my opinion.
I could see popcorn-movie lovers losing their marbles.
They wouldn't be able to sit still through it, I gather.
Non-actors?!?! No signs of civilization?!?! How would they cope??
LOL

GREAT FILM. CHECK IT OUT.

oscar jubis

06-22-2011, 11:37 PM

Johann, have you seen Cave of Forgotten Dreams?

Johann

06-23-2011, 03:12 PM

No, I haven't.
But that one is a priority for me, as it was the film Herzog was promoting in Toronto when I met him on the street last September.
(It's a 3-D offering from him too!)
My hope is to write something on every film in his canon, which is considerable.
I welcome anyone's comments on Herzog's works.
I don't want people thinking they can't post in this thread. Please feel free.

I watched Encounters at the End of the World again, which has a nice interview with Herzog by Jonathan Demme on disc 2.
And something I didn't mention in my review: a physicist talks about Neutrinos, which is what I consider to be the thing that records our lives for the Almighty. That's my best guess/belief.
Neutrinos can be measured, the physicist says, but what they are is a total mystery. I say it's the one element of human existence that records all matter for an unquantifiable "Creator". You can say that's bunk, or retarded or ridiculous, but that's what I think. Neutrinos fly through us like nothing else.
Explain it, if you disagree.
Explain neutrinos and consciousness to me without saying God hasn't got a damn thing to do with it. Do it. Please. I'm all ears.
:)

Johann

06-23-2011, 07:15 PM

I'll post about Wheel of Time tomorrow. I'm watching the DVD tonight. (after I see Robert Plant at the Ottawa Jazzfest! HUZZAH!)

Johann

06-27-2011, 10:31 AM

WHEEL OF TIME

This film may be one of Herzog's lesser pictures, as Howard Schumann mentioned. But I found enough in it to marvel at.

It documents Buddhist rituals in Bodh Gaya. The most impressive thing in the film is the centrepiece sand mandala that the monks create to symbolize the impermanence of all things. The mandala is Magnificent. The craft that goes into creating it is astounding. It requires serious patience and a steady hand to make it. I'd love to see it in person. Herzog's film is a fine substitute if you never make it there...

His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama makes a special appearance. He lays out the first line of sand on the mandala. The area where the mandala (the "WHEEL OF TIME") will be created must be sanctified, cleansed and blessed. Interesting rituals.
Herzog himself is the cameraman for some scenes, but the bulk of the amazing hand-held camerawork is by Peter Zeitlinger, a trusted DP of Herzog's. Zeitlinger gets right in there, among the monks and pilgrims. Some smile, wave, curiously look at the camera. I love this kind of cinematography where you get the feeling that the cameraman is trying to record everything, all at once, the Insatiable Eye, if you will.
Trying not to miss anything interesting, looking for the magic. (filming took place in January 2002)
My favorite scene hands down was the raising of the mast. Something really poetic and good about that scene.
These Monks are quite unique people.
They hike up a 17-18,000 foot mountain in 3 days!
I was in the Infantry, and back in the day on Canadian Forces base Gagetown New Brunswick (our 2nd largest base) there is a 62 kilometre training area, and the Royal Canadian Regiment used to do a "DEATH MARCH", the whole 62 km, with full kit (150 pounds of gear) with combat boots.
They would only stop for a meagre 4 hours, which was just enough time for your boots to start filling up with blood when "prepare to move" was given.
The upside was you'd get extra leave to heal your tender tootsies, because you'd just done an inhuman feat: 62 km without stopping (just for 4 agonizing, tortuous hours). I don't know if the Regiment still does the Death March, but I heard out West they still do the Mountain Man competition, which is even MORE brutal...
And here these Monks are, trekking up the mountain fearlessly, with little support and eating nothing but rancid yak butter.
I'd say that's hardcore. Hardcore spirituality.

And then there's that man in the film who spent 37 years in prison for shouting "FREE TIBET!" twice.
Aren't you glad you don't live in a place where saying two words gets you 37 years?
I am.
Amazingly, the man is incredibly happy. I'm mystified.
I'd be the most bitter, crochety old geezer EVER if that happened to me. LOL
I'd have been executed in my cell before too long..ha ha
But no, this man is one happy cat, no real hard feelings. He has Buddha.
And he can barely walk! Because the floors in the jail were all flat, one flat surface. Being outside with all kinds of terrain was difficult for him to fathom. All he'd known for 37 years was a flat floor.

Watch this film. It's great. It might not be as captivating as say, Grizzly Man or Lessons of Darkness, but it's got lots to teach us, and in only 80 minutes. (relatively short)
Herzog narrates.

Chris Knipp

06-27-2011, 10:53 AM

Interesting description., Johanm. I like what you said about the camerawork. I wasn't even aware of this title. They have it at Netflix and their description of it is is this:

Tracing the foundation of a lifelong spiritual journey, German filmmaker Werner Herzog captures the faith of thousands on an annual pilgrimage to Bhod Gaya, the Indian village in which Buddha is thought to have attained enlightenment. Herzog structures his documentary around the Kalachakra initiation -- a fascinating 12-day ordainment process for Buddhist monks involving the creation of a large "wheel of time" out of sand.

Johann

06-27-2011, 10:57 AM

That's an accurate description.
Add it to your list of "to-see's" on Netflix.
The rituals are very interesting. The monks and pilgrims work together marvelously: they are united in their beliefs.
500,000 monks in one place!
The DVD sleeve described it "A Spiritual Woodstock"

Johann

09-10-2011, 11:23 AM

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

This Magnificent work of Cinematic Art was the film Werner Herzog was promoting at TIFF in 2010, where I met him on the street in front of the Royal York hotel (Fairmont). If you thought Avatar was the best 3-D film ever, then take a look at this movie.

It's miraculous.

Herzog takes us back in time, about 28-35,000 years ago. You have to see this to believe it.
The Chauvet cave in France was discovered perfectly preserved in 1994.
It is a labryinth of stalactites, cave bear bones/jaws, charcoal from when primitive man rubbed his torch against the cave walls to stoke fire, and all manner of gorgeous primitive cave wall art, perfectly preserved, almost "new" or "fresh", as Herzog tells us in his very educational narration.

Only a handlful of scientists and art historians are allowed into the cave, which has a steel walkway built within that rises 2 feet off the cave floor- no one is allowed to touch anything in the cave, and Herzog's film crew is only allowed a limited time in the cave, with handheld cameras, portable light sources and minimum exposure to the living historical artifacts that are contained in it.

The 3-D technology that's employed is Astonishing. From the opening shots of a camera flying through a vineyard that soars up and above toward the mountain where the cave resides, this is AMAZING CINEMA.
The showcase is the ART that adorns the walls of this fascinating and humbling cave.
It was applied to the walls of the caves using the contours of the rock formations- a bison running, horses in determined speed, lions, panthers, buffalo, rhinos, all manner of prehistoric animal. Herzog intones that this may be the origins of cinema- cave paintings that seem to move, and he inserts a piece of Hollywood: Fred Astaire dancing to his shadow- something that early cave dwellers may very well have done.

Herzog has various scholars and historians and researchers who speak at length about the mysteries and enigmas and historical facts about this time in European history. No one talks down to the viewer- it's all in reverence and respect for this Chauvet cave, which touches everyone very profoundly. Indeed, Herzog says that he felt like they were being watched by the former living things that were in the cave. Like they were intruders. My favorite part was when the head of a team asks everyone in the cave to be silent and just listen.
He suggests they may be able to hear their own heartbeats.
Herzog inserts a heartbeat on the soundtrack, and the music he drapes over this film is very very eerie.
This is the kind of cinema that moves your soul.
Avatar was and is Awesome. A 3-D groundbreaker.
But this is something else.
This is REAL.
Your eyes should pop out of your head.
See it on a big screen as soon as you can.
Herzog dedicated this to the three who discovered the cave and was made for History channel films.
Astonishing poetic camerwork by Master D.P. Peter Zeitlinger, Herzog's trusted EYE...

Johann

09-14-2011, 12:19 PM

A rockslide eons ago sealed off the cave, preserving everything that was in it.
Water seepage over the centuries has coated everything with a beautiful preservative resin.
This film is a document of something we'll never see, unless you find yourself working on some tiny elite team to find out more about this cave and it's treasures.

The immediacy of the 3-D imagery just sears your eyes.
As is noted on the film poster: "almost like watching the re-invention of the cinematic medium".
Herzog has Vision.
I have the film poster (great to have a theatre manager as a friend!) and I just posted a photo of it today on Facebook.
Gonna frame that bad boy...

RUN to a movie theatre to check this one out.
Werner Herzog just keeps out-doing himself.
His next film on death row in the U.S. is highly anticipated.

Johann

04-14-2017, 03:13 AM

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done

This film is a 2009 collaboration between two Kings of Cinema: Werner Herzog and David Lynch. A match made in heaven? Yes.

It's as strange and bizarre as you'd expect from such a team-up. Michael Shannon plays Brad Macallam, a man with serious problems.
The title of the film comes from what his mother says to him after he runs her through with a sword. The plot is mercurial, hard to get a handle on. (Very David Lynch). Willem Dafoe and Michael Pena are detectives assigned to negotiate with Brad, who is holed up in his house- a strange house with cactuses dotting the entire front, and he has pet pink flamingoes. Chloe Sevigny (wonderful actress- I love her) plays his fiance who helps the police.

Michael Shannon is a very fine actor, and he has some intense scenes here- see the scene between him and Chloe as "Ingrid" where he gets angry and repeats "So What?!"...wowza. Udo Kier also plays a role, assisting the police as he taught Brad at a theatre group, where he insisted on rehearsing with a real sword for a play. This film is difficult to describe, although it can be described as esoteric, artistic and AWESOME. I loved every minute- even from the gorgeous opening scene. The camerawork is sublime, with nice filters, by Ace cameraman and Herzog partner Peter Zeitlinger. The soundtrack is amazing, and the scene where he plays a Christian country song was sublime to me. See it at all costs. Filmed in San Diego, Los Angeles, China, Mexico and Peru, with STUNNING cinematography- no joke, you cannot complain about the visuals.Two giants of cinema COLLIDE....