Werner Herzog appreciation thread

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According to Variety (article HERE), Herzog's Rescue Dawn was the first major purchase at the Toronto International Film Festival. MGM got the U.S. distribution rights and intends to release it in December for awards qualification.
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Bobby's recent review reminded me I never did a write-up for Rescue Dawn, which I saw in late November of 2006. One of the producers lives here in Portland and screened the film in town as a benefit. There were probably only forty or fifty people there that night and I don't even remember what the cause was where the funds were going, all I cared about was getting a sneak peek at one of my favorite filmmaker's flicks. I think I probably didn't rush back and write up a review because I was so disappointed. ANYway, the much belated review...



Rescue Dawn

Being a huge fan of Herzog's documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly, I was very excited to hear he was turning the material into a dramatic narrative and that it would star the great Christian Bale. Having seen the documentary many times, I was very familiar with the story, and knowing some of the out and out horrors Dieter so calmly described my head was swimming with the kind of pain and degradation that would be fictionally brought to life, and actually feared a little for what Bale, who had gone to extremes before in roles (most obviously the dangerous weight loss for The Machinist), might truly hurt himself. How disappointed I was when Dieter's horrible/amazing story as retold in Rescue Dawn felt neutered and strangely antiseptic. I realize part of that is that Little Dieter Needs to Fly is so very, very effective and paints some images in the mind's eye that could probably never be replicated in a fictional film, even by artists so willing to go to extremes like Herzog and Bale. But despite the documentary being only eighty minutes long and Dawn coming in at a little over two hours, the latter feels rushed in some spots and excises things for the sake of a linear narrative that simply don't make sense to me. Christian Bale is very good as Dengler, as I expected, and Steve Zahn shows just how good and complete an actor he is. Though for me it was Jeremy Davies who stole the film, as one of the other P.O.W.s, and it is him and not Bale who does the really, really scary-looking weight loss. But despite their grand efforts and that they're telling such an amazing story that seems almost too extreme to be true, Herzog never pulls it all together.

I also had some serious problems with the final scene on the aircraft carrier, a bit that was so off in tone from both the rest of Rescue Dawn and Little Dieter that my mouth fell open wondering why such a corny, hollow, clichéd CODA was somehow made by a director I find so unerring, much less as the final sentiment to end on! It's so odd that it almost feels like parody, something from one of the Hot Shots! movies, but played straight and, I assume, supposed to make one cheer. To say it didn't work for me is an understatement. I'd love to hear Herzog's thoughts about it, because to me it's easily the worst five minutes of film he's ever shot and seems totally fake and forced and out of step with everything he's ever done in cinema.


But despite the trite ending, Rescue Dawn is not a bad film, not at all. And if you've never seen a Werner Herzog film before it may even seem great. But it's simply not up to his own very high standards. It's plainly not in the same class as Aguirre or Stroszek, and it's definitely not anywhere near as powerful or mesmerizing as Little Dieter Needs to Fly.


GRADE: B-



NOT ACTUALLY BANNED
Sorry you didn't like it, Holden.

Not my first Herzog flick, but I liked it's plot structure. That was the main thing I appreciated.

Good review though.



A system of cells interlinked
Well, he liked it though, right Holds? Just disappointed in some aspects? Gave it a B-, anyway.

Thanks for the reviews, guys...
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"Werner Herzog (born Werner Stipetić on September 5, 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, actor, and opera director of Croatian descent."

I just found that out and had to share it...lol.



I didn't like Rescue Dawn at all. It just didn't feel as true a film as all WH's other films. Like some kind of more commercial effort he was trying to attempt. I even looked at my watch during it I was that disinterested which for a film based on a real guy's remarkable escape was unforgivable.



I'll just leave these here:

Fitzcardboardaldo




And the making-of, The Corrugation of Dreams, featuring both an interfering cat and a fairly horrific cardboard Werner Herzog.




The People's Republic of Clogher
Oh, the possibilities.

Accountants At The End of The World
Cream of Scone
Even Dwarfs Started Brawls
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"Werner Herzog (born Werner Stipetić on September 5, 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, actor, and opera director of Croatian descent."

I just found that out and had to share it...lol.
That's interesting – I must have read that before but it's slipped my mind.



This might just do nobody any good.
So beautifully depressive. That baby bit is traumatizing.

And the chicken...



"Honor is not in the Weapon. It is in the Man"
Here's my review for Herzog's latest Salt and Fire:
https://worldfilmgeek.com/2017/04/03...and-fire-2017/

And I had interviewed lead actress Veronica Ferres, who considered the film a dream project because she had been influenced by Herzog's Fitzcarraldo to become an actress and she got to work with her idol on the film:
https://worldfilmgeek.com/2017/04/03...salt-and-fire/
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This might just do nobody any good.
Ol’ Werner getting back to his Fitzcarraldo days with “Fordlandia”, a tv series about Henry Ford’s attempt to recreate small-town America in the middle of the Amazon in the 1920s.

https://deadline.com/2018/06/fordlan...up-1202410725/



This could be a good series, depending upon which way they go. Herzog generally covers the subject matter pretty well, though.

Just recently we watched his Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), which is a fascinating subject about cave drawings from 30-40,000 years ago in southern France. It was a little repetitive, but a compelling subject.

~Doc



I'm always looking for good documentaries, especially ones that aren't preachy. I've watched several of Herzog's, and enjoyed them. Some of them are in German, so not all are accessible for English-only speakers.

Watched The White Diamond (2004) the other night, which seemed to me a fascinating subject: about an aeronautical engineer whose expedition is to explore the tree canopies of hard to reach and unexplored jungles in Guyana and other locales by use of a newly designed airship.

The nature photography was beautiful, especially the lengthy footage of Kaietur Falls. But the preparations and test flights of the dirigible, "The White Diamond" became repetitive and ultimately boring. Even the unique music score was reminiscent of Close Encounters of the Third Kind-- a little too other-worldly.

I'd like to have learned a little more about the engineer, Graham Dorrington, both before and after this expedition.

Interesting, but a little long. Doc's rating: 6/10



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
I've only seen Aguire so far and his Nosferatu remake is next on my list. Really looking forward to Fitzcarraldo. Does anyone agree that that Aguire, has possibly the best opening shot in movie history, or the second shot, depending on which version you watch, since one version has an extra shot in the opening?



Welcome to the human race...
There might be some I'd put above it (Blade Runner or The Shining, for instance) but it's still great.
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