Werner Herzog Movies
One of the most influential filmmakers in New German Cinema and one of the most extreme personalities in film per se, larger-than-life Werner Herzog quickly gained recognition not only for creating some of the most fantastic narratives in film, but for pushing himself and his crew to unprecedented lengths, again and again, in order to achieve the effects he demanded. Born Werner Stipetic in Munich on September 5, 1942, Herzog tremendous intelligence from an early age, and recognized his future vocation in his early teens, when he began submitting scripts to German film producers.Herzog began producing short films in college, and shot his premier feature, Lebenszeichen in 1968. The director followed it with a 1970 documentary about the disabled, Behinderte Zukunft (Handicapped Future). His second feature film, the 1970 Even Dwarfs Started Small, depicts the daily activities of a bunch of dwarfs and midgets in a German penal community, who descend into an anarchic state. He continued to shoot arthouse features throughout the '70s in his native Germany like Fata Morgana, Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit, Aguirre the Wrath of God, The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser , Heart of Glass, Die grosse Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner, Stroszek, Nosferatu ,Woyzeck, andGod's Angry Man.
Between 1980 and 1982, Herzog managed to top the insanity of that film shoot with Fitzcarraldo, the story of a nineteenth century opera lover, determined to bring the music of Enrico Caruso to the Peruvian Indians. The production proved to be difficult. During shooting, a plane crashed and killed several locals, lead Jason Robards acquired amoebic dysentery and had to be replaced with Kinski, second-billed Mick Jagger abandoned the production, steamer ships used for the set became mired in the mud and could not be moved until rainy season, and tribal war nearly erupted nearby.
Herzog soon found himself more interested in hardcore documentary work, and began focusing on non-fiction, with Lessons of Darkness (1992), Bells from the Deep: Faith and Superstition in Russia (1993), The Transformation of the World into Music (1994), Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997), Wings of Hope (2000), Wheel of Time (2003) and Incident at Loch Ness (2004). Grizzly Man (2004) - comprised of footage shot by ill-fated "Grizzly Bear expert" Timothy Treadwell just before his death in a bear attack - elicited particularly strong acclaim, while 2010's Cave of Forgotten Dreams captured the 30,000 year old cave art in the Chauvet Cave using 3D cameras.
Herzog's focus on documentaries didn't keep him from working on narrative films as a whole. 2001's Invincible dramatized the story of a Jewish man who rose to power with the Nazis, only to renounce his party affiliations and swear allegiance to his people, and the director's 2006 Rescue Dawn starred Christian Bale as real life pilot Dieter Dengler, who was shot down over Vietnam, and held in a Vietnamese prison camp, only to lead a successful escape with his inmates. Changing gears dramatically, 2010's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans starred Nicholas Cage as an insane cop.
In addition to his directing and screenwriting work, Herzog has acted in a number of films, perhaps most memorably in Les Blank's 1980 documentary Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe. The film was the result of a bet Herzog once had with an American film student: Herzog told the student -- who was always talking about making a film but never actually doing it -- that if he actually completed the film, Herzog would eat his own shoe. The student was Errol Morris, who later became known for his documentaries Gates of Heaven, The Thin Blue Line, and Fast, Cheap & Out of Control, and he did indeed make his film. Having lost the bet, Herzog made good on his promise, and the result was one of the stranger moments in documentary history. In Paul Cox's 1983 picture Man of Flowers, Herzog plays the central character's stern, disciplinarian father during a wordless flashback. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
German filmmaker Werner Herzog has never done anything by halves. When Herzog tackled Fitzcarraldo, the story of an obsessed impresario (Klaus Kinski) whose foremost desire in life is to bring both Enrico Caruso and an opera house to the deepest jungles of South America, the director boldly embarked on the same journey, disdaining studios, process shots, and special effects throughout. The highlight of the story is Fizcarraldo's Herculean effort to haul a 300-plus ton steamship over the mountains. No trickery was used in filming this grueling sequence, and stories still persist of disgruntled South American film technicians awaiting the opportunity to strangle Herzog if he ever sets foot on their land again. In the end, Herzog proved to be as driven and single-purposed as his protagonist, and it is the audience's knowledge of this that adds to the excitement of Fitzcarraldo. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Klaus Kinski, Jose Lewgoy, (more)
Documentarian Les Blank, who filmed Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, trained his cameras on Herzog again, as the eccentric German filmmaker made his epic, Fitzcarraldo, in the Amazon rainforest of Peru. Herzog's production is in trouble right from the start. He begins filming with Jason Robards playing the title role, and Mick Jagger playing Fitzcarraldo's sidekick, Wilbur. With 40 percent of the film shot, Robards becomes ill and goes back to the states, where his doctor will not let him return. Because of the delay, Jagger, with album and tour commitments, is forced to quit the production. Thinking no one can fill the rock star's shoes, Herzog jettisons Jagger's role. He eventually casts his frequent collaborator Klaus Kinski as Fitzcarraldo and begins shooting again. Violent tribal disputes and unpredictable weather hinder the shoot, but the biggest obstacle is Herzog's own quixotic and dangerous determination to film one antique boat smashing down the Amazonian rapids, and the dragging of an identical boat over a mountain from one river to another. Blank interviews members of the cast and crew, including the impoverished Indian extras, and captures the troubles of the seemingly cursed production, but his interviews with Herzog are the focal point of the film. "If I abandon this project," Herzog explains at one point, "I would be a man without dreams, and I never want to live like that. I live my life or I end my life with this project." Herzog later made his own documentary about Kinski, My Best Fiend, which adds to the lore of this infamously difficult shoot. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski, (more)
- 1980
While he was struggling to complete his first feature-length film, documentarian Errol Morris was discussing his problems with his friend and mentor, the acclaimed German director Werner Herzog. In a moment of frustration, Herzog blurted out that if Morris ever actually finished the movie he kept talking about, he'd eat his shoe. In 1977, Morris finally completed his feature, Gates of Heaven, and he contacted Herzog to tell him that after several well received screenings at film festivals, the premier showing had been scheduled. Herzog, a man of his word, flew to the United States and cooked his shoe, eating it on-stage at the screening. Les Blank, a good friend of both filmmakers, captured the event on film for posterity, and Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe offers a witty look at how to cook a shoe, Herzog's history of keeping unusual promises, his views on the relationship between cuisine and cinema, and the movie by Morris that made the event possible. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
For Werner Herzog's 1979 remake of F.W. Murnau's classic 1922 silent horror-fest Nosferatu, star Klaus Kinski adopts the same makeup style used by Murnau's leading man Max Schreck. Yet in the Herzog version, the crucial difference is that Nosferatu becomes more and more decayed and desiccated as the film progresses. Essentially a retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Nosferatu the Vampyre traces the blood-sucking progress of the count as he takes over a small German village, then attempts to spread his influence and activities to the rest of the world. All that prevents Dracula from continuing his demonic practices is the self-sacrifice of Lucy Harker, played by Isabelle Adjani. Director Werner Herzog used the story to parallel the rise of Nazism. The film was lensed in the Dutch towns of Delft and Scheiberg. Nosferatu the Vampyre was filmed in both an English and a German-speaking version; the latter runs 11 minutes longer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, (more)
Controversial German director Werner Herzog helmed this cinematization of Woyzeck, playwright Georg Büchner's anti-military tale of depersonalization run amok. Utilizing the more grotesque elements of German expressionism, combined with his own sense of the outrageous, Herzog plunges us directly into the middle of his story of a soldier (Klaus Kinski) who is conditioned to be an unthinking killing machine through lab experimentation. His one vestige of humanity is his love for the beautiful Marie (Eva Mattes), but even this is corrupted when he is goaded into murdering the girl. An earlier film version of Woyzeck, filmed in 1947, was released in the U.S. in 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Klaus Kinski, Eva Mattes, (more)
- 1977
In 1977, the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe was faced with seemingly unavoidable destruction when La Soufriere, a large and active volcano on the island, came to life and was expected to explode. Guadeloupe was quickly evacuated, but one man, an elderly hermit, refused to leave his tiny campsite near the volcano, and authorities were forced to leave him behind. When filmmaker Werner Herzog heard about the lone man who stayed behind, he was instantly fascinated with his story, and quickly assembled a small camera crew to journey to Guadeloupe and get his story before the volcano destroyed the island. As it happened, Herzog and his crew discovered that three penniless men were left behind, and in La Soufriere he talks to these last citizens of Guadeloupe as they share their thoughts about their lives and their likely death. Herzog and his cameramen also include eerie footage of the abandoned city near the volcano, the dangerous beauty of the volcano itself, and the true story of a disaster which befell the island in 1902. Ironically, for all the scientific evidence of the oncoming disaster and precautions that were taken, La Soufriere failed to erupt, leading Herzog to describe the experience as "an inevitable catastrophe that didn't take place." ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Can anything be bleaker than the shabby slums of Berlin? Yes, argues director Werner Herzog in Stroszek: try Wisconsin sometime. Bruno S.. stars as an ex-mental patient who dreams of the so-called promised land of America. He aligns himself with like-minded prostitute Eva Mattes and elderly, near-senile Clemens Scheitz. Upon their arrival in Wisconsin, the three misfits find that they're just as trapped in Dairy Country as they'd been in Germany--if not more so. The sour and bitter Stroszek earned worldwide critical and commercial acclaim. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bruno S., Eva Mattes, (more)
- 1976
German filmmaker Werner Herzog examines several alien cultures at once in this short documentary. How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck finds Herzog visiting Lancaster County, PA, for the 1976 World Championship of Livestock Auctioneering, where men compete to show who can talk the fastest as they take bids on cattle brought to market. As Herzog introduces us to these men who have devoted years of practice and study to the art of talking quickly, we also meet the ranchers who raise the prize animals for sale, the auction fans who come to watch the contest, and the Amish farmers of Lancaster County, who display a grudging acceptance of the more modern aspects of the auction contest and cattle sale (and chat with Herzog in old German). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Heart of Glass (Herz aus Glas) is essentially a treatise by Werner Herzog on the power and importance of art. Director Herzog was known to put his actors through the wringer to get the results he wanted. In this film, Herzog decided that the best way to get his people to dance to the crack of his whip was to actually put them under hypnosis! The dazed, zombie-like performances certainly fit the subject matter. This is the story of an 18th-century Bavarian glassblower who by virtue of his delicate work virtually casts a spell over his neighbors. When the glassblower dies, the townsfolk discover that he failed to leave behind the secret for his special ruby glassware -- and will do literally anything to find the answer. The word usually used to describe Heart of Glass is "haunting"; some viewers have gone beyond haunted and into "possessed." Watch carefully and spot director Herzog in a bit as a glass carrier. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clemens Scheitz
- 1975
German director Werner Herzog's internationally acclaimed "breakthrough" film is based on the famous story of mysterious 19th-century child genius Kasper Hauser. As played by Bruno S., Hauser shows up unannounced in the middle of a village square, frightening the populace with his bizarre behavior. He cannot talk, nor is there any indication of his parentage, thus Kaspar is immediately the object of close scrutiny from the authorities. When he finally does develop the power of speech, he reveals a highly advanced state of intelligence, as well as a seeming gift of prophecy. The winner of the 1975 Grand Jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Every Man for Himself and God Against All was originally released in Germany under the title Jeder für Sich und Gott Gegen Alle. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bruno S., Brigitte Mira, (more)
- 1975
In this documentary, the dramatic ski-jumping exploits of Walter Steiner are explored, along with his life-story and the philosophy which motivates him. Steiner is a Swiss woodcarver who experiences something resembling bliss in the confrontation with fear which is a feature of ski-jumping. One highlight of the film is its slow-motion footage of jumping. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
The most famed and well-regarded collaboration between New German Cinema director Werner Herzog and his frequent leading man, Klaus Kinski, this epic historical drama was legendary for the arduousness of its on-location filming and the convincing zealous obsession employed by Kinski in playing the title role. Exhausted and near to admitting failure in its quest for riches, the 1650-51 expedition of Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro (Alejandro Repulles) bogs down in the impenetrable jungles of Peru. As a last-ditch effort to locate treasure, Pizarro orders a party to scout ahead for signs of El Dorado, the fabled seven cities of gold. In command are a trio of nobles, Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra), Fernando de Guzman (Peter Berling), and Lope de Aguirre (Kinski). Traveling by river raft, the explorers are besieged by hostile natives, disease, starvation and treacherous waters. Crazed with greed and mad with power, Aguirre takes over the enterprise, slaughtering any that oppose him. Nature and Aguirre's own unquenchable thirst for glory ultimately render him insane, in charge of nothing but a raft of corpses and chattering monkeys. Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1973) was based on the real-life journals of a priest, Brother Gaspar de Carvajal (played in the film by Del Negro), who accompanied Pizarro on his ill-fated mission. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Klaus Kinski, Cecilia Rivera, (more)
The term which has become this film's title, Fata Morgana, refers to mirages, and is an apt title for this storyless, hallucinatory work shot in the deserts of North Africa. It is a rhythmic, musical succession of images and short scenes. One of the images is a pianist and drummer who play tiredly, surrounded by endless tracts of desert. This is an image that has been adapted and re-used in countless music videos and is a small piece of evidence suggesting that this is a very influential film. The narration, in English, comes from a Guatemalan creation myth, and the accompanying music ranges from Couperin to Cash, with significant contributions by Leonard Cohen. Fata Morgana is one of the early features by the renowned director Werner Herzog, better known for Aguirre, Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo. As is the case for many of Herzog's films, he paid a high price in physical pain to shoot this one; he was arrested and tortured by an African government in the mistaken belief that he was a mercenary soldier. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
This moving documentary by director Werner Herzog (Fitzcarraldo, and Aguirre, the Wrath of God) enters into the world of Fini Strabinger of Bavaria, who is both deaf and blind. Fini has made a career of helping others who are similarly afflicted, teaching them sign language and taking them on field trips to gardens and touching zoos. Told in an unaffected, homey style, this film uses a minimum of narration as it movingly explores the lives of these people. One of the film's highlights is footage showing Fini's reactions to her first airplane flight. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
Even viewers who've seen Freaks won't be completely prepared for Werner Herzog's bizarre Even Dwarfs Started Small. The film is set in a dismal mental institution, wherein dwell several midgets, dwarfs and other "oddities." Sick of being tormented and exploited by the so-called normal people of the world, the inmates stage a coup, taking over the asylum and utterly reversing the status quo (Herzog's apparent attempt to draw parallels between the events on screen and such real-life upheavals as Vietnam). As in his other films, the director imbues his misshapen characters with a sort of regal grandeur, as if to purge the German wartime atrocities against "underdesirables." Herzog also produced, wrote and provided the musical arrangements for Even Dwarfs Started Small, which was initially released in Germany in 1970 (two years after its completion) as Auch Zwerge haben klein angefagen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
A soldier is assigned to guard a fortress on a remote Greek island and finds himself unable to cope with the crushing boredom of the task in this interesting drama, an early film by renowned-director Werner Herzog. The story is set during WWII and concerns a soldier who was wounded and stationed on the Nazi-controlled island. He is accompanied by his wife and two other guards. It is a very quiet island and soon the men begin looking for constructive things to do. First they paint houses. Then they try raising goats. One of them finds a small stockpile of explosives, so the men begin making bombs. Another of the men can read Greek and so begins translating some of the ancient inscriptions on the castle walls. He discovers that pirates once controlled the island. Meanwhile, the other guard invents a little machine that systematically captures and kills roaches. Eventually the lead soldier finds himself beginning to crack up, suffering a minor breakdown when he hears someone playing Chopin on the piano. When, to escape their tedium, the guards are assigned a detail on a ridgetop, the lead soldier begins shooting at windmills. Further agitated by his perceived betrayal by his comrades, he then attacks the local village and threatens to use his bombs to destroy it. In the end, the insane renegade is stopped. Herzog is said to have based the story on an article describing similar events that occurred during the Seven Years' War. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Brogle, Wolfgang Reichmann, (more)
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