I am very thankful for my friend dreamwhip for sending me a few Warner Herzog films to watch, Fitzcarraldo and Nosferatu. IMO Nosferatu is a masterpiece, I loved everything about this film. It was packed with eye candy (I’m very picky about the way films are photographed) This film was visually stunning. Although Fitzcarraldo is epic in scope and an awe-inspiring film, Nosferatu really did it for me. Probably mostly because I am a fan of F.W. Murnau’s film and Herzog really paid tribute to that classic. I will admit, the first Herzog film I ever saw was Rescue Dawn. Another friend of mine upon hearing this revelation scolded me and told me that it was like seeing Francis Coppola’s Dracula first and never seeing The Godfather. So I had to go back and see Herzog’s classic films to understand his genius
An extremely perceptive friend you have. Never lose him...Bruno Gantz his just so good in Nosferatu, the scenes in which he is going to the castle, the inn, and arriving at the castle are truly breathtaking. This was my first Herzog experience when I was a teenager and those images will never leave me.
Herzog is a true maverick and a brilliant filmmaker. His collaborations with Kinski are justifiably celebrated, but his documentaries and other features are just as great. Try and track down the footage of Herzog being shot during an interview(!). His deadpan response: "This bullet is insignificant." To paraphrase Kinski from MY BEST FIEND: Herzog is MONUMENTAL, he is EPOCHAL!
Aguirre the Wrath of God is his best, IMO. It's his Apocalypse Now, the perfect blend of madness on and off-screen to create a masterpiece. I also want to love Fitzcaraldo, but I just respond better to the simplicity Aquirre.
My recommendations : Signs of Life Even Dwarves Started Small Fata Morgana Aguirre Every Man for Himself and God Against All (The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser) Heart of Glass Stroszek Nosferatu Woyzeck Invincible The Wild Blue Yonder Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans plus all the documentaries you can get your mitt's on
http://www.wernerherzog.com/films.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Herzog#Filmography http://www.netflix.com/RoleDisplay?personid=41467
No one has mentioned Lessons of Darkness yet? I found that film to be quite hypnotizing and very captivating, even though it's not really about anything...
So far, I've seen all the movies starring Kinski (except "Nosferatu") and Bruno S., none of the others. I think my favorite is "Every Man for Himself and God Against All" (AKA "The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser"), followed by "Aguirre" and "Stroszek", but I loved them all. I also have the "Signs of Life" DVD, so that's next on my queue...
You can get all the excellent Popul Vuh soundtrack stuff in a box now :- http://www.amazon.com/Werner-Herzog-Soundtracks-Popol-Vuh/dp/B00487U4R0/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1306002415&sr=1-1 I have an older Spalax boxset (actually in a metal film canister) but my set does not include Fitzcarraldo or Cobra Verde.
Into The Abyss coming out on dvd/Blu-ray 10 April http://www.amazon.com/Into-Abyss-Bl...1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1332332106&sr=1-2
the chicken scene is Herzog's favorite piece of film that he has ever shot. The blues hambone song that accompanies he uses again in Bad Lieutenant - Port of New Orleans in the scene with the Iguana.
Lessons of Darkness is a personal favorite, especially with the Wagner Parsifal score. It is a one hour documentary about the aftermath of the first Gulf War after Saddam lit the oil fields on fire, but also features a disturbing scene of the inside of an Iraqi prison torture room and its implements. I find it to be about a lot of things. Visually, the helecopter shots of the burning oil fields present a vision of the apocalypse which also happens to have a sort of ironic mesmerizing beauty. From a documentary standpoint, it is interesting to see what is involved in putting out and sealing a bursting oil well fire. Then, there are themes of man's capacity for destruction, environmental themes, etc.
Herzog/Kinski is one of the greatest partnerships in cinema history. Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo alone would insure immortality.
I have such a hard time picking my fave Herzog...he's probably my fave director. My usual go-to films would be Aguirre, Stroszek and Kaspar, but then I think of Fitz and Heart of Glass and Nosferatu...great films. I loved that he got into the Loch Ness film too, always like to see someone being able to poke a little fun at themselves.
He has a great, mischievous sense of humour, very dry and more than a little dark...his documentaries are not always what they purport to be.
