Project Herzog Part IV, his worst films (five of them) here.
And the rest, in chronological order:
Herakles (1962)
A student film basically, by a film-maker who never went to film school. Mixing footage of body-builders with stock footage, the joke is that these modern-day He-Men can't possibly be as manly as the classical hero of the title. Among the stock footage we see a pile of corpses from the 1955 Le Mans car racing disaster. Get it? Funny!
The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz (1966)
His first narrative film, a group of young men randomly find some military uniforms and weapons. As a joke they put on the gear and instantly turn from carefree hipsters to bloodthirsty soldiers. Obvious anti-war themes, with a deranged officer telling us "even defeat is better than no war." Surprisingly mature, very much worth your time.
Signs of Life (1968)
His first feature. A relatively straightforward, albeit quirky, anti-war film focusing on a group of Nazi soldiers in occupied Greece. One of them comes upon a field filled with (desecrated by?) windmills and goes insane. Herzog was perfectly capable of making mainstream work and thankfully, he soon decided not to. Excellent Greek folk music for the soundtrack.
Last Words (1968)
Filmed at the same time and place as Signs of Life, this very short film is based around a man who constantly goes around claiming that he does not want to speak. The best part of the movie is, again, the Greek folk music played throughout. Also very strange direction from Herzog, who makes his actors often repeat their own lines of dialogue.
Precautions Against Fanatics (1969)
A short film shot at a race course, where Herzog interviews people who train horses. Of course, they walk around trees for two or three days non-stop. They eat too much garlic. Herzog describes this film as a "practical joke" but it's one I'm too stupid to get. His first use of color film.
Fata Morgana (1971)
A documentary that begins the great legend of Herzog -- travelling through the African desert, almost dying from disease and various civil wars, spending time in jail, various truck breakdowns. The first two thirds focus on the desert itself, but specifically the rusted-out remains of various factories and what must have been oil operations. In the ruins, people scratch out what must be a difficult existence. His first use of tracking shots, and a truly bizarre ending. Beautiful in many ways, also incomprehensible. The "science fiction" narrative was used again in The Wild Blue Yonder, but you're fine just watching this one.
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
Very loosely based on the story of an actual foundling child, the joke here is that the various examinations of Kaspar (by a doctor, a philosopher, a soldier) reveal more about the various neuroses of the townsfolk than of the young man himself played brilliantly, blankly by Bruno S.
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974)
A documentary about a legendary ski-flyer (as opposed to ski-jumper, which is not nearly as dangerous) Walter Steiner who relaxes in his down-time by wood-working. Herzog, at 34, comes into his own by letting his subjects continue to speak for themselves. Some excellent camera-work, making the whole thing seem easier than it must have been, and Herzog's first collaboration with the band Popol Vuh for his soundtrack. I doubt Herzog has much interest in sports and competition in his own life, but definitely with the dangerous and outrageous goals of certain human beings which may qualify as sport.
Heart of Glass (1976)
Herzog's fifth feature, about a village centered around a glass factory. Famously, Herzog had everyone but the main character hypnotized for no other reason than he could. Impenetrable. Impossible to evaluate in any meaningful way.
No One Will Play With Me (1976)
A short parable about a boy who befriends a girl by showing her his pet raven. She tricks their fellow students into giving her all their money. Perfectly harmless.
Woyzeck (1979)
My single favorite Kinski performance, especially the opening. You really do feel as if he could pass out at any moment due to stress. Based on a famously anti-war 19th century German play, it ends boringly and predictably with a jilted man murdering his wife. A good movie, but not the top tier of his feature films.
God's Angry Man (1981)
Around Stoszek (1977) and this, Herzog worked on two other very "American" documentaries -- How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck (1976) and Huie's Sermon (1981), both of which I included in the best work section. Here he takes the camera to one of the earliest televangelists, Gene Scott, who is absolutely shameless in demanding money from his elderly followers on a weekly television program based in L.A. Herzog can find sympathy for almost anyone, even a murderer, but not here.
Where The Green Ants Dream (1984)
An excellent set-up -- aboriginal folks demand that an Australian mining company stop destroying their ancestral land. But the performances are on the slow side, and while Herzog is no stranger to finding beauty amid desert environments here it just seems a bit shallow, one-dimensional. Just a lot of brown dirt really.
The Dark Glow of the Mountains (1985)
A documentary featuring the brilliant mountain climber Reinhold Messner attempting two peaks on the China-Pakistan border with relatively minimal equipment. Notable for his breakdown when Herzog asks him about the death of his brother, Gunther, during an expedition together in 1970 -- "How did you break the news to your mother?" Maybe not essential Herzog, but definitely a nice entry point.
Portrait of Werner Herzog (1986)
Herzog finally points the camera at himself for a change, and we get to see the austere Bavarian village and mountains among which he grew up. The information about his childhood is very important to understand the bigger picture, but also strangely disappointing to me that he's not above a significant amount of self-promotion. Disappointing, but made up for by the number of quality interviews he has done over the years.
Cobra Verde (1987)
Kinski unleashed -- his blond hair has grown into something truly uncanny and monstrous. (He'd be dead in four years.) His last film with Herzog, when their relationship was at its worst. A film ostensibly about the horrors of the Atlantic slave trade, but one that indulges in some of the worst stereotypes and cliches white film-makers tend to have about African people -- passive, obedient only to violence and authority, and an ending involving very young, very naked African girls dancing for the pleasure of white men. I don't question Herzog's larger intention here, but a hot mess of a racially convoluted film nonetheless.
Les Gaulois (1988)
A strange one, a short film sponsored by a French newspaper as part of a series entitled The French As Seen By.... (David Lynch was another contributor.) The first half is an interview with two pompous wine connoisseurs, the second a look at a French rugby match. Herzog is rarely a "laugh out loud" kind of director, but the wine-tasting portion is absolutely hilarious. Herzog goads the two into higher and more hyperbolic statements as to the grandeur of French wine -- "You are no longer a human, but rather a small god! A son of Bacchus!" Very short, very watchable.
Herdsmen of the Sun (1989)
A promising setup -- a festival held by a Saharan tribe where the young men apply paint and make-up and compete as to who is the most beautiful, chosen by the young women. But there's something flat in the execution, and definitely something uncomfortable when Herzog pries into the sex lives of these same young people and their courtship rituals. It feels forced and unwanted.
Echoes from a Sombre Empire (1990)
Herzog shadows Michael Goldsmith, a journalist who was imprisoned and tortured by the dictator Bokassa of the Central African Republic. Essentially an unfinished film, as the plan was to interview Bokassa himself even though by then he had been imprisoned by the next dictator. Some interesting moments, but not a film that adds up to what it should.
Scream of Stone (1991)
A mountain climbing feature that no doubt owes credit to The Dark Glow of the Mountains (1985), as far as I can tell the only available copy as of now is a VHS reprint. Herzog himself claims that despite his direction, he didn't write the script and hence it isn't really his film. Famous for two reasons -- another project where Herzog almost died (trapped without shelter for two days in a blizzard) and an introduction for many to the world of free-climbing with Stefan Glowacz.
Jag Mandir (1991)
Herzog films a huge, opulent festival staged in Udaipur, Rajasthan with dancers, jugglers, musicians, and illusionists. No doubt the spectacle and amazing talent is real, but at nearly 90 minutes doesn't really captivate past the first 30. A bigger picture is lacking.
Lessons of Darkness (1992)
The burning wasteland of Kuwait following the first Iraq War (a "good war" according to American history) focusing on the oil well workers fighting to put out fires and bring back the black sprays of fossil fuel, perverse fountains of dirty money. An even better use of music than usual, with very minimal dialogue. Herzog practically makes the battered, degraded landscape speak for itself.
Bells from the Deep (1993)
An examination of Russian Orthodox religion after the fall of the Soviet Union, Herzog switches back and forth from a highly charismatic "Russian Jesus" to the more normal folks who keep up with the old ways. Reminiscent of Jag Mandir (1991) in that he has no problem staging events as organic or spontaneous that clearly are not. It's not a big problem in the former film, but here it's a well-known secret that the devout worshipers prostrating themselves on an icy lake were a couple of local drunks who got some cash to play their roles. Parts of this are genuinely beautiful though. Truth enlightens, reality merely disappoints.
Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices (1995)
A strange one even for Herzog, but a good one. The life of composer and wife-murderer Carlo Gesualdo is told though interviews with the modern-day ground keepers of his ancient estates, musicians and a music scholar, and a beautiful actress playing a "ghost" (she admits as much, in a purely Herzogian moment). Maybe a bit too piecemeal to be called a classic, but certainly compelling in its own way.
Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997)
The saga of Dieter Dengler, a German-American who fulfilled his dream to become a US Navy pilot during the Vietnam War. Promptly shot down over Laos, Dengler recounts his survival nightmare in the jungle. Herzog uses local non-actors to recreate the capture and torture of Dengler (a technique that would be developed in Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing in 2012). As usual, Herzog nails the ending set in an American air force "grave yard." As compelling as Dengler's personal story is, just how many bombers and jets does any nation actually need? A beautifully obscene final shot.
Wings of Hope (1998)
Another made for TV film, this tells the story of Juliane Keopcke, a German woman who was the sole survivor of a plane crash into the Peruvian jungle. In a similar manner to Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) she recreates her journey out of the jungle and back to (relative) civilization. Famously, Herzog himself had a ticket on this same flight but was late to the airport while filming Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). The escape is interesting, but it's the scenes of her back on her father's nature preserve that are the most fascinating (she went on the become a highly respected zoologist and expert on Peruvian animals and insects).
My Best Friend (1999)
Kinski died in 1991, and this is Herzog's most directly biographical work (even compared to 1986's Portrait of Werner Herzog, which is practically a commercial for his early work). He loves Kinski, a man who we now know raped one of his own children, but at the same time pulls no punches -- "he was endowed with a fair share of natural stupidity." Almost essential. The opening where Herzog visits his childhood home which has now been renovated into an opulent condominium says a lot about Germany as well.
Pilgramage (2001)
A very short film with no dialogue, just contrasting footage of pilgrims in both Russia and Mexico, with an original soundtrack by John Tavener.
Ten Thousand Years Older (2002)
Another short documentary that begins with stock footage of a remote Brazilian tribe having first contact made in 1981. Eventually, they are almost completely wiped out by disease. Herzog visits them 20 years later and by that time the younger survivors are almost fully adjusted to modern Brazilian life, while the surviving elders seem content enough but still perplexed by this strange modern world that they had no choice about being flung into.
Wheel of Time (2003)
A run of absolutely brilliant documentaries begins here. Herzog examines a Tibetan Buddhist festival which features a painfully crafted sand mandala and the many monks who have traveled far to hear the Dalai Lama speak. Turns out, he has a cold and can't address his huge audience. Jump forward a few years later to Austria and a conclave held in Europe, with another mandala. Includes an interview with a now healthy Dalai Lama. As per usual with Herzog, do not miss the very ending, the final shot. It says everything.
The White Diamond (2004)
The simple-enough story of engineer Graham Dorrington, a man who builds dirigibles and literally dreams about flying as a bird almost every night. In a perfectly Herzogian set-up, we're off to Guyana to fly over the jungle and waterfalls in a dodgy craft of his own invention. Herzog himself has to talk Dorrington out of an early attempt, as he thinks it's too dangerous. In any event, the second half of the film opens up beautifully and unpredictably -- it turns out, Dorrington lost a friend in an earlier accident involving one of his air ships. Now, this is no mere sight-seeing trip. Add in a crew member looking for his parents across the ocean, a very friendly and particularly virile rooster, and a sacred cave that Herzog consciously chooses not to film and you have someone at the height of his film-making powers, even if in no small part by accident. Also the first use of music by avant-garde cellist Ernst Reijseger. A triumph in ways you'd never expect going in. A triumph in spite of itself, perhaps the greatest kind.
Rescue Dawn (2006)
Herzog's honest-to-God go at making a Hollywood action flick starring Christian Bale is also a re-telling of 1997's Little Dieter Needs to Fly. Shocking in that it almost works as a straight-up action flick, until an incredibly sappy and hard-to-believe ending ruins it all. Jeremy Davies (Corporal Upham in Saving Private Ryan) practically steals the show from Bale. The last watchable Herzog feature film as far as I'm concerned, for now.
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)
I'm willing to admit that a fully unhinged Nic Cage performance is a thing of beauty and a joy forever, but I'll also stand by my contention that Rescue Dawn before this was Herzog's last complete feature film. Starting here, they become exercises in either insane or drowsy excess. But here's something positive I will say about this film -- Cage and Herzog were enjoying the hell out of themselves while making it, something you can't say about later yawn-inducing features. For a student of the absurd, you'd think he'd have taken this lesson to heart by now, even in old age.
La Boheme (2009)
A very short work consisting of shots of Ethiopians living their lives. More an exercise than a statement. Thin gruel.
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010)
Not bad, not great. As far as I can tell Herzog edited down the work of another documentarian concerning the lives of Siberian fur trappers and their dogs. Their wives and children make more limited appearances. Not on the level of what comes before and after.
Into the Abyss (2011)
An interview with a surprisingly cheerful young American man about to be executed for murder. No pity or sentimentality from Herzog, but also a profound belief that as someone who grew up in the shadow of the Nazis he doesn't understand how any country could condone, let alone enforce, the death penalty. Herzog is fascinated by the fact that before an American state executes someone, they are given a thorough physical exam. The pure absurdity of the state and the law.
Ode to the Dawn of Man (2011)
A documentary about cellist and composer Ernst Rejiseger, and the creation of the incredible soundtrack for Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010). Essential as far as I'm concerned, but I'm kind of a music nerd. My all-time favorite moment in any Herzog film? The very end of this one.
From One Second to the Next (2013)
For a man who abhors the destruction and absurdity entailed in capitalism, you'd think Herzog would have run away screaming when America's top mobile network providers approached him to make a film about the dangers of texting and driving. He didn't though. And actually, it's pretty good if not a bit predictable. He interviews the families of text-and-drive victims, and even more painfully the people who caused such accidents. A happy accident itself, you could say.
Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World (2016)
An interview with the creators of the internet, the family members who remain after a cyber-bullying suicide, robotic engineers, AI programmers, and even some weird asshole named "Elon Musk." Not quite as powerful as the heights of the noughties, but still quite good. (Best moment: Werner telling Musk, in all sincerity, that he will go to Mars first despite the danger.)
Into the Inferno (2016)
As Herzog tries to comprehend the massive barrenness of the desert in Fata Morgana (1971) here he turns his camera to the extreme power of volcanoes. It's good, but not his best. In fact, he seems to bury the lede in traveling to North Korea and not giving us a full-length feature on life in that country. To wit: on visiting a Pyongyang subway station, he admires the "freedom" North Koreans have -- not a single one of them is staring at their (non-existent) cell phones.
Meeting Gorbachev (2018)
A perfectly serviceable interview with someone who in no small part shaped the end of the 20th century. I'm no expert, but it seems like Herzog is surprisingly non-critical and pretty much lets Gorbachev do most of the speaking with very little push-back. No doubt an important document for students of the Cold War from now on.
Nomad: In the Footsepts of Bruce Chatwin (2019)
I have to confess I've never read Chatwin, but this documentary makes me want to pick some of his books up sooner rather than later. A close friend of Herzog's who died young of AIDS, we retrace the travels and adventures of a man who documented life in places as far flung as Patagonia and the Australian Outback. Herzog interviews Chatwin's biographer, as well as his now-elderly wife. Did you mind when Bruce brought home his various boy- and girlfriends for long weekends? No, not really. She explains that as a devout Catholic who loved him, why would she ever want to divorce him, infidelities aside?
Updated:
Family Romance, LLC (2019)
Every parent realizes that eventually he or she will lie to their children, if they want them to stay happy. But why don't we extend the same courtesy to adults? Shot guerrilla-style in Tokyo with no permits (and I believe Herzog's first use of drone footage) Ishii makes a living impersonating family members, or staging "surprises" for people who have lost their sense of joy in life. Does he eventually go too far? Of course he does! Not a perfect film, but gorgeous shots of Tokyo in spring and yet another masterful ending make it well worth your while, unlike his other recent feature work. More of this nearly no-budget storytelling, please.
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