I suppose my curiosity about Werner Herzog started with The Mandalorian: Chapter 1 where he played the Client, the mysterious unnamed leader in the former Galactic Empire who hires the Mandalorian to retrieve an alien baby.
Herzog has always been on my periphery ever since 1979's
Nosferatu the Vampyre, but now he seems to be everywhere so it was time to catch up on the 3 films that made him famous: Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo, and the documentary about making Fitzcarraldo - 1982's Burden of Dreams.
Werner Herzog film style is a mix of documentary and fiction, long slow takes that emphasize emotion with occasional action. His documentaries draw you in.
Grizzly Man (2005) is an absorbing documentary about the misguided life of grizzly bear activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, who were killed and eaten in October of 2003 while living among grizzly bears in Alaska.
I recently reviewed "
Wings of Hope (1998)", Werner Herzog's documentary about 17 year old Juliane Koepcke's survival after falling 10,000 feet, landing in the Amazon jungle and her 11 day hike to safety. I found out about the documentary in the June 18, 2021 NY Times article on the 50th anniversary of Juliane's survival. In the documentary both Juliane and Herzog go back to the plane crash site and retrace her steps out of the jungle.
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=176875.msg1862724#msg1862724 The Amazon jungle plays a big part in Herzog's film career. Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo are both filmed in impossible conditions in the middle of the Amazon. Herzog is just as obsessed as his characters.
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) - In the 16th century, an insane Don Lope de Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition up the Amazon river in search of the fabled gold of El Dorado. Aguirre never gives up even as every person in the expedition is picked off by the native Indians. The Europeans stick with their inappropriate dress and beliefs in spite of overwhelming evidence that they should abandon everything they know.
Yes, everyone in the film is insane
Fitzcarraldo (1982) - Klaus Kinski plays Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man who intends to build an opera house in the middle of a jungle. The film is also know for Werner's extreme determination to haul a 320 ton, 3 story steamship up a 40 degree slope over a mountain, this is accomplished with an actual ship, without special effects and up the Amazon river 1500 miles from any town.
Burden of Dreams (1982) - A documentary about the filming of Fitzcarraldo directed by Les Blank. Fitzcarraldo took 4 years to film through a location change because of the a war between Peru and Ecuador, months of tension filled waiting for the rains to come so the boat would float off a sandbar and a total restart because after 40% of the film was shot Jason Robards got sick and Mick Jagger had to leave because of upcoming contract commitments.
Herzog directing the natives, conditions were extreme
"Klaus Kinski was a major source of tension on set. He fought violently with the crew and raged over trivial matters. The natives were very upset about his behavior. Werner Herzog has claimed that one of the chieftains offered, in all seriousness, to murder Kinski for Herzog."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083946/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_50All the films mentioned are available on Amazon Prime
"Wings of Hope" is available for free on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlJVIcCPIl8Every film mentioned is 5 stars and they are all personal and weird in their own way.
