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Werner Herzog: ‘Film-making is always some sort of risk-taking’
- paulcole 6y agoThis guy dragged a boat over a freaking mountain so he knows what he’s talking about.
- pimeys 6y agoAnd worked with Kinski. Lucky he's still alive! brilliant movies though...
- noblethrasher 6y agoIt's Kinski that is lucky to have survived the filming: "In My Best Fiend, Herzog says that one of the native chiefs offered in all seriousness to kill Kinski for him, but that he declined because he needed the actor to complete filming"[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzcarraldo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzcarraldo
- staticautomatic 6y agoYeah the movie made it very blurry as to whether Herzog liked, respected, tolerated, or used Kinski. Maybe all those things.
- js2 6y agoFitzcarraldo for anyone who doesn't know the reference.
- weinzierl 6y agoNot to forget when he was shot "with an insignificant bullet" in the middle of a BBC interview in LA[1]. Also, if I had the choice between dragging a 320 ton steamship over a mountain in the Amazon rainforest and working with a gun carrying Klaus Kinski, I'd certainly chose the former. No wonder nothing can frighten Werner Herzog, I guess. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrRNM9cMBDk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrRNM9cMBDk
- andi999 6y agoWhile I applaude and admire his effort, I am somewhat concerned with the result. Can anybody elaborate why his movies are considered great? (This is not a rhetorical question, I am curious what other see that I do not.)
- mitchbob 6y agoHere's Roger Ebert on Herzog's Nosferatu, one of my favorites: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-nosferatu-the-vampyre-1979 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-nosferatu-the... . For me, the quality of Herzog's films is wildly variable, but in his best films, he's a poet of human extremes and vulnerabilities, as in his documentary The Great Ecstasy of the Woodcarver Steiner, about a champion ski jumper https://slate.com/culture/2018/02/the-genius-of-werner-herzogs-the-great-ecstasy-of-woodcarver-steiner.html https://slate.com/culture/2018/02/the-genius-of-werner-herzo... and The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-enigma-of-kaspar-hauser-1974 https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-enigma-of-kaspar-haus...
- beloch 6y agoI love many of Werner's movies (and dislike a couple). He tends to root things in historical fact without going too far afield. His protagonists are usually realistically flawed and frequently outright unhinged (e.g. most of Kinski's roles). Many of his films have a uniquely lyrical character, and his taste in music usually coincides with my own. (If you hate the music a director chooses it often makes it hard to like his films). His documentaries (e.g. "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" or "Grizzly Man") feature unique and fascinating people, and Herzog digs deep into their stories. It's okay to hate good films though. A big part of appreciating culture is learning to recognize when something is good, but not for you. e.g. Many go gaga for Antonioni's "L'Avventura". It may have done some pretty revolutionary things for film, but I hate it with a passion. I can't stand it's plot structure and loathe every one of it's characters. I recognize that it is a good film, but also that it's not for me. Be careful to say, "I didn't like that film" instead of "That is a bad film because I didn't like it".
- saiya-jin 6y agoMust say, his portrait of Rheinhold Messner's and Hans Kammerlander's double summit of both Gasherburms in one go is on another level compared to basically any mountain documentaries of that era. Name is Dark glow of the mountains, german speaking but I found some english subtitles. You have dark aspects of protagonists revealed, questions about what to do with belongings if they don't come back and so on. Its not the style that was common at that time. I mean, it gives you perspective on extreme mountaineering and people doing it like few documents do, even in these days. Whether you like Messner's personality or not, its a damn fine documentary and shows why these guys are not mere athletes like world champions/olympic winners.
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- evan_ 6y agoHe didn't, he hired indigenous people to do it.
- paulcole 6y agoI’m not sure hired is the right word — Herzog was very clear that the indigenous people were independent contractors not employees. In Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, one of Travis Kalanick’s lieutenants said the director’s commentary of the Criterion Collection edition of Fitzcarraldo provided the final spark that set the whole business idea in motion.
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- nkurz 6y agoUnblocked: http://archive.is/tiOAw http://archive.is/tiOAw
- qilo 6y agoIt looks like archive.is finally resolves correctly via Cloudflare DNS servers.
- Reedx 6y agoWow, finally indeed. That's been a pain for the longest time. What was the holdup anyway?
- dredmorbius 6y agoThat tends to be intermittent, with some domains responding, some not, at any one time.
- atlasunshrugged 6y agoThere was also a very good interview done with him (~1.5hrs) a while back https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eua5iPUKw6Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eua5iPUKw6Y
- kevinskii 6y agoUnfortunately this was the interview that diminished my opinion of him somewhat. He was obnoxiously self-absorbed and self-congratulatory throughout.
- nowandlater 6y agoI see what you mean, but wow, his description of Klaus Kinski frothing at the mouth while shattering a wine glass by screaming at it (whether true or not) definitely makes me want to keep watching -- Herzog is unapologetically over the top, but he sure knows how to tell a story.
- at_a_remove 6y agoI mean, if there was someone who could scream at a wine glass loud enough to make it shatter, Klaus Kinksi would be that person. He was, by all accounts, only of utility to humanity when chained to a stage. Even the director who made "Please Kill Mr. Kinski" after working with him said that he was great in front of a camera.
- ghostcluster 6y agoYou just need to scream at the resonant frequency of the glass to make it shatter. You can teach yourself how to do it
- fossuser 6y agoMy read was similar, I also couldn’t get through Lo and Behold which set off bullshit alarms [0] and just gave me the impression of confidence being used in the place of actual explanation. It feels like an emperor has no clothes situation. For some reason people think it signals high status or intellectualism to like Herzog so they say they do. I haven’t watched all of his movies so this may be unfairly harsh, but that was my initial impression. Portal podcast also came across that way to me. First interview with Thiel was interesting, but I stopped somewhere after the next couple. Too much “the media doesn’t want us to talk about this” and “the Clintons are a globalist conspiracy against the people”. If you have real arguments then make them. Don’t just confidently state things as fact without backing them up. Thankfully when Sam Harris was on he at least pushed back on some of the bullshit. [0]: https://youtu.be/Bqx6li5dbEY https://youtu.be/Bqx6li5dbEY
- op03 6y agoRunning joke with the boss - we will do it only if you eat your shoe - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/1979-werner-herzog-ate-his-770500 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/1979-werner-herzog-at...
- brudgers 6y agoOn YouTube https://youtu.be/RNNGzMK5e4c https://youtu.be/RNNGzMK5e4c
- hawkice 6y agoThe paywall is stopping me from learning Herzog appreciates the Fast and Furious franchise as much as I do.
- mojuba 6y agoOne of the greatest documentalists of our time. A favorite quote that has a double meaning in this context: Storyboards are the instruments of the cowards (For the record, I don't believe the above is true for iOS development :)
- aphextron 6y agoNot just documentaries, but films too. Fitzcarraldo, Cobra Verde, and Aguirre Wrath of God are some of the best films ever made.
- Hoasi 6y ago> Storyboards are the instruments of the cowards It is Mr. Herzog's slightly pedantic tongue in cheek, semi-flamboyant, original way of saying that his type of cinema doesn't require storyboards. That is fine, as long as no one misunderstands it for saying that he doesn't need a script to plan his shots and can rely solely on artistic brilliance and improvisation, which couldn't be further from the truth. Of course, most documentaries and art films don't need a visual screenplay like a storyboard, because it wouldn't make sense to script the action besides the fact that there is little action in those films. It is kind of logical and has nothing to do with being particularly brave. Now, action movies require storyboards because otherwise, the director wouldn't know what to do and would blow the studio's budget and get fired. Not using a storyboard wouldn't make the director a coward, but it would be unprofessional. In cinema and documentaries and even to do YouTube videos, you need a plan, an outline, or a script. Without a planning tool, you will blow up your budget and end up with a second rate product. A storyboard is a planning tool you need when your scene is complex and will require tight control of your budget. It is just a tool and doesn't impede your improvisation abilities or choices or make you afraid of anything. That's silly.
- IMAYousaf 6y agoMy single favorite scene from any Herzog related film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWH_9VRWn8Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWH_9VRWn8Y Herzog inquires and videos insane penguins in Antarctica as they march on towards their doom.
- jacobush 6y agoSo sad
- Gatsky 6y agoThis could be a documentary about my research career.
- IMAYousaf 6y agoEverytime I read the words "but why?", I hear them in his voice over here. There's something so absurd about tiny flapping, waddling penguins as an animal, and yet they seem relatable too as they go about their day everyday, including the insane penguins in question.
- fab1an 6y agoThank you for posting this - one of the most simultenously amusing/depressing things I have ever seen!
- hanklazard 6y agoAnother good one. Herzog waxing poetic on the jungle: https://youtu.be/ze9-ARjL-ZA https://youtu.be/ze9-ARjL-ZA I love his work but sometimes I wonder how much he’s actually trying to be funny with these sorts of comments. Maybe just overly serious as a younger man? “The birds don’t sing they screech in pain.”
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- pvg 6y ago32-ish-year-old Herzog (in German) is another fun thing to compare. https://youtu.be/l_SxmZWuwdk?t=391 https://youtu.be/l_SxmZWuwdk?t=391
- ctchocula 6y agoAguirre was the film that inspired late Taiwanese-American director Edward Yang (one of my favourite directors) to become a filmmaker and ignited his love of film. He was reportedly working as an engineer in tech. Perhaps Herzog will inspire one of us here on HN to become director too.
- ihinsdale 6y agoIf you enjoyed this interview, I recommend you check out the book Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed (https://www.amazon.com/Werner-Herzog-Perplexed-Conversations-Cronin/dp/057133606X/ https://www.amazon.com/Werner-Herzog-Perplexed-Conversations...), which is essentially a 400-page interview transcript covering Herzog's autobiography and filmography. One of the most inspiring books I've ever read.