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Werner Herzog?

post #1 of 43
11/15/05 at 11:53pm
Thread Starter 
Been looking to get into his ouvre, being only directly familiar w/ his rather unimpressive remake of Nosferatu and his Kinski documentary; suggestions?
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post #2 of 43
11/16/05 at 12:41am
Aguirre.
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post #3 of 43
11/16/05 at 1:28am
Herzog is the bane of my existence but people adore Fitzcarraldo (sp?). His recent documentary the Grizzly Man was actually really good and I know he did a narrative about Americans at one point.

Really, you see one Herzog narrative and you've seen them all. He is obsessed with the idea of man conquering nature and ultimately losing because chaos trumps order (no really). That theme appears in EVERY single one of his films, even the documentaries (which are arguably his best works).

EDIT: Stroszek is the American film. It features some REALLY pretentious moments...but that is Herzog. There is a reason he and Kinski were such peas and carrots.
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post #4 of 43
11/16/05 at 9:04am
Invincible is perhaps my favourite Herzog. It's a movie about a Jewish strong man who finds fame and fortune entertaining Nazis pretending to be an aryan.

Tim Roth steals the movie as a really suave and nasty hypnotist trying to screw the strong man over.

Really interesting film.

Also Aguirre: Wrath of God is wonderous.
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post #5 of 43
11/16/05 at 11:19am
Watched Aguirre last night and thougt it was pretty good.
Much better than Nosferatu, which i thought was too pretentious and dull.
Or maybe i´m just too dumb to understand and interpret(sp?) it.

Anyway, i´d really like to see all the other films Herzog and Kinski did together.
Maybe i´ll buy the dvdbox set.
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post #6 of 43
11/16/05 at 11:24am
That's two counts of 'pretentious' in five posts. Care to elaborate on that?
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post #7 of 43
11/16/05 at 11:51am
I appreciate Aguirre. I actually enjoy Fitzcarraldo. The chaos against order theme that Mercury mentioned is still present, but it's a far less nihilistic take on it - in fact, it's even sort of uplifting despite that theme. You might want to give that one a shot. But I'm also something of a Herzog novice.
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post #8 of 43
11/16/05 at 1:20pm
Lately he's been delving into more documentary-type films.

I recently watched Incident at Loch Ness, which was a strange and sometimes entertaining mockumentary about the making of a documentary on the Loch Ness Monster.

I wanna say Devin or one of the other guys reviewed the film, but I couldn't find the review. Perhaps it's one of those that has gone missing.
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post #9 of 43
11/16/05 at 4:28pm
"Even Dwarves Started Small" is one of my top-five movie titles of all time.
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post #10 of 43
11/16/05 at 4:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PodBayDoor
"Even Dwarves Started Small" is one of my top-five movie titles of all time.
That movie is FUCKED UP.
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post #11 of 43
11/16/05 at 5:13pm
Herzog is a God. None of his work is pretentious, and none of it is unimpressive. Try Cobra Verde and his short subject documentaries.
Werner needs to be exalted for keeping the medium a pure artform, struggling to keep his hold on it while it gets yanked away by the studios, the dumb fucking brain-dead audiences and bullshit movies with swelling music.
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post #12 of 43
11/16/05 at 7:08pm
Watch Even Dwarves Started Small with the Herzog-Crispin Glover commentary on until you get bored. (First five minutes: "Have you ever looked into the eyes of a chicken? They are amazingly stupid creatures.") Then go back and listen to the opening song sung by the Spanish 11 year old girl in a cave. Fast forward to any segment where the truck is driving in circles, then jump forward to the five second shot where the truck is shoved by the dwarves, apparently without stuntmen, into a volcanic pit. Rewatch this. Go to imdb and read the trivia about the injuries to the little people working on the film, or maybe that's also on the commentary.

Watch Burden of Dreams (documentary about Herzog in the jungle not made by Herzog), excerpted in My Best Fiend.

Watch Julien Donkey Boy.

Stay away from Heart of Glass.
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post #13 of 43
11/21/05 at 7:01pm
After ten minutes of Invincible I had to turn it off.
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post #14 of 43
11/22/05 at 6:42pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you kindly everybody, I really appreciate the responses, and the suggestions.
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post #15 of 43
11/25/05 at 9:00pm
Check out Stroszek. The last five minutes make me laugh until I'm almost hyperventilating. Herzog came to my town earlier this year for three days - I asked him about the chicken scene, and he said that he just couldn't cut away, it was too fascinating.
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post #16 of 43
11/25/05 at 10:56pm
I watched Lessons of Darkness this last week. It's simply an hour of beautiful photographs of Kuwaiti oil fires. It looks like Mordor. You can zoom your DVD player in on U.S. Army graffitti. And the commentary track on Fata Morgana made an entire room laugh. A car can be seen running around in a heat shimmer in the Sahara: Herzog claims there was no car around for miles, it is a filmed mirage, but he later modifies this statement, I think.
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post #17 of 43
11/27/05 at 8:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PodBayDoor
"Even Dwarves Started Small" is one of my top-five movie titles of all time.
After Googling the title I have decided that I need to see this movie NOW.
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post #18 of 43
11/28/05 at 6:40pm
FITZCARRALDO, a must see IMHO. I saw this movie when I was first exposed to serious films, and I have seldom gone to mainstream cinema since then.
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post #19 of 43
11/30/05 at 11:23am
He`s one of the few that`s still trying.
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post #20 of 43
7/31/07 at 10:02pm
Just bumping this thread to say that if your DVD is region free you can pick up Herzog's most influential films all for about £25/$50.

http://www.play.com/Search.aspx?sear...&go.x=0&go.y=0

When you consider that these two boxsets contain Fata Morgana, Nosferatu, guirre: Wrath of God, Even Dwarfs Start Small, Heart of Glass and Fitzcaraldo you can see why I'm so excited.

It's literally an entire cinematic history, and I'm currently trying to justify the purchase to myself.

I think the fact he got shot and acted in a nonplussed manner is going to be the thing which pushes me over the edge.
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post #21 of 43
8/1/07 at 3:19am
I enjoyed his Nosferatu. Oh well.

Definitely check out Grizzly Man and Incident at Loch Ness (he didn't direct it, but he does direct IN it).

I've heard The Wild Blue Yonder is fairly interesting (Dourif!). I'm curious.
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post #22 of 43
8/1/07 at 3:37am
There'll be some third party Herzog stuff on the main page, prolly tomorrow -- I did a long phone interview with Jeremy Davies today about RESCUE DAWN.
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post #23 of 43
8/1/07 at 4:42am
Aguirre: one of the first movies I watched when I was getting interested in film. I didn't know what I was talking about when I was 15, but I told myself it was awesome. I bought it recently because I'm sure I'd sincerely love it now. It's likely gonna be a chore to watch for some...
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post #24 of 43
8/1/07 at 7:06am
I think I might just be buying those two. I've already been tempted by them at 20 apiece.
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post #25 of 43
8/1/07 at 6:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by moovyphreak
I recently watched Incident at Loch Ness, which was a strange and sometimes entertaining mockumentary about the making of a documentary on the Loch Ness Monster.
But too often attributed to Herzog, who only co-produced and appeared in the film. He did not write and direct it.

Of the documentaries Herzog actually directed that are available on all-region or Region 1 DVD, I highly recommend LAND OF SILENCE AND DARKNESS and the three shorts LA SOUFRIERE, HOW MUCH WOOD WOULD A WOODCHUCK CHUCK, and GREAT ECSTASY OF THE WOODCARVER STEINER (all available from New Yorker), as well as the more recent masterpieces LESSONS IN DARKNESS, THE WHITE DIAMOND and WHEEL OF TIME.

Almost all of his fictional features are available. And damn near all of them I would recommend -- with the exceptions of WHERE THE GREEN ANTS DREAM, COBRA VERDE and INVINCIBLE, which are decent but not essential.
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post #26 of 43
8/1/07 at 6:49pm
I gotta second Stroszek. And third it. Just watch the fucking film, it's fantastic.
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post #27 of 43
8/1/07 at 6:54pm
COBRA VERDE is more interesting when viewed in context with films like AGUIRRE and FITZCARRALDO, which makes that box set (I have the older R1 version) so nice.
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post #28 of 43
8/1/07 at 6:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teknoluv
FITZCARRALDO, a must see IMHO. I saw this movie when I was first exposed to serious films, and I have seldom gone to mainstream cinema since then.

I heard that a fair amount of natives were killed during the filming of Fitzcarraldo, something that Herzog doesn't seem too troubled by. Does this bother anyone? Obviously, this man doesn't have much of a problem subjecting his actors/crew to desperate situations...and I understand that's part of his 'process'.

Still, I've never been able to get into him because I find this story deeply troubling.
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post #29 of 43
8/1/07 at 6:58pm
I found a lot of COBRA VERDE to be unfocused, even tired. Herzog doesn't care for the film, either, and on the commentary he points the finger at Kinski (for trying to turn it into a spaghetti western!).
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post #30 of 43
8/1/07 at 7:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by elektro87
I heard that a fair amount of natives were killed during the filming of Fitzcarraldo
Because of tribal warfare in and around the Peruvian Amazon locations. None of those deaths were caused by the actual production.
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post #31 of 43
8/1/07 at 7:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by S.P. Collier
Because of tribal warfare in and around the Peruvian Amazon locations. None of those deaths were caused by the actual production.

It wasn't because the boat--or whatever they were transporting through the mountainous jungle--crushed a bunch of 'em? That's how I heard it...
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post #32 of 43
8/1/07 at 7:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by elektro87
It wasn't because the boat--or whatever they were transporting through the mountainous jungle--crushed a bunch of 'em? That's how I heard it...
Well, that's what happens in the movie...

(And it's also what Les Blank would have you think in the BURDEN OF DREAMS documentary, which presents the raw footage of that sequence out of context.)
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post #33 of 43
8/1/07 at 7:19pm
Yeah, I guess I have friends who've seen that doc...I would think he'd try to put the nix on that thing, it seems to effect people's approach to his films (not just mine...)
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post #34 of 43
8/1/07 at 7:26pm
He does put the nix on it, actually, in an interview for the BURDEN OF DREAMS Criterion disc. Check it out. The whole interview's fascinating.
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post #35 of 43
8/1/07 at 8:38pm
I will check it...and I won't feel guilty about watching Herzog anymore!! (well, except that dwarf movie...)
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post #36 of 43
8/2/07 at 7:28am
Quote:
While filming the scene where a van drove in circles with no one at the wheel, one of the actors was run over, but immediately stood up uninjured. During the flower burning scene, the same actor caught fire and Werner Herzog raced over and beat the fire out. The actor only had minor injuries from the fire. After these two accidents, Werner Herzog promised the actors that if they made it through the rest of filming without any more injuries he would jump into a cactus patch and allow the actors to film him doing so. The film was finished without any further injuries and the director made good his promise and dove into the cacti. Herzog has said, "Getting out was a lot more difficult than jumping in"
From the wikipedia article on Even Dwarves Started Small. Dear God, this man is awesomely insane!
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post #37 of 43
8/2/07 at 7:59am
Even Dwarfs.... also features a monkey being crucifed and cannabilistic 1 legged chickens.
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post #38 of 43
8/3/07 at 12:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveB
I appreciate Aguirre. I actually enjoy Fitzcarraldo. The chaos against order theme that Mercury mentioned is still present, but it's a far less nihilistic take on it - in fact, it's even sort of uplifting despite that theme. You might want to give that one a shot. But I'm also something of a Herzog novice.

I agree with my friend here - I'm a Herzog novice, and found Fitzcarraldo to be MUCH more compelling than Aguirre. At the very least, it's a more palatable jumping-in point.

Grizzly Man was good fun.
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post #39 of 43
8/3/07 at 2:37am
Herzog, my favorite filmmaker (as one might guess from my Bruno-tar up next to my name), and Aguirre just might be my favorite film of all time. Herzog's "feature" films have changed over the years in style (watch Kaspar Hauser and then watch Rescue Dawn), but his documentary films are still pretty much the same. Really - if you can track down his short docs (http://www.wernerherzog.com/main/index_html.htm) please do - watching him climb volcanos and seeing the way he shoots cattle auctions in the 80's really entrances a bit. Don't forget his cameo in What Dreams May Come or his frightening father role in Julian Donkey Boy.
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post #40 of 43
8/3/07 at 4:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Collins
his frightening father role in Julian Donkey Boy.

As a big fan of gummo I was pretty disappointed with the Donkey Boy. But Herzog was, by far, the best part of that movie.
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post #41 of 43
8/4/07 at 1:13pm
A film I've seen in the last few years, which I think is his best, is Wings of Hope, a one hour documentary about a woman whose plane crashed in the Amazon and then walked out. I think it's better than Little Dieter, more compact, to the point. It is very similar in some respects, but the staginess of a reticient trauma survivor returned to the scene of their trauma and doing monologues about it may just seem less forced in dubbed English.

I wrote a comment for it on its imdb page:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249248/
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post #42 of 43
8/5/07 at 1:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spike Marshall
Just bumping this thread to say that if your DVD is region free you can pick up Herzog's most influential films all for about £25/$50.

http://www.play.com/Search.aspx?sear...&go.x=0&go.y=0

When you consider that these two boxsets contain Fata Morgana, Nosferatu, guirre: Wrath of God, Even Dwarfs Start Small, Heart of Glass and Fitzcaraldo you can see why I'm so excited.

It's literally an entire cinematic history, and I'm currently trying to justify the purchase to myself.

I think the fact he got shot and acted in a nonplussed manner is going to be the thing which pushes me over the edge.
I am SO buying those!!
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post #43 of 43
8/5/07 at 1:22pm
Herzog is one of, if not, my favorite drector ever. If they're in your price range, I would highly recommend getting the Anchor Bay boxes, they're a great value, and there is not one bad film in the set (I actually like Heart of Glass) Most of his films go for about $17 on DVD, the box sells 6/7 for about $40. I would like to get the box on his website, but as of now the price is way to high. It looks fantastic though, and contains a lot of films you're not likely to see anywhere else. For other Herzog related films check out Harmony Korine's "Julien Donkey-Boy," and Zak Penn's "Incident at Loch Ness," and the upcoming film "The Grand." Also, I believe he plays a preacher in the new Korine film Mr. Lonely.
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