The work of German film director Werner Herzog, including reviews and criticism.
Documentaries
- Herzog documentaries - an overview #1
- 2003 article that doesn't add many new facts, but gives an interesting (if not necessarily true) take on the reasons for Herzog's move from features to documentary. Doesn't cover the most recent documentaries.
- Herzog documentaries - an overview #2
- 2005 article focusing on recent films, and rather curiously (in light of Herzog's 35 years of documentary making) marks this as a new direction.
- Grizzly Man [Official site]
- Lots of flash and promotional stuff.
- Grizzly Man feature [The Guardian]
- The story of how the film was made, and some reflections on it.
- Graham Dorrington interview [BBC]
- Graham Dorrington, the main character in Werner Herzog's The White Diamond, talks about making the film.
- The White Diamond film details
- Synopsis of the film and links to related DVDs and books.
- My Best Fiend trailer
- QuickTime trailer for the film and DVD.
- My Best Fiend - review
- Review of this film, detailing the Werner Herzog-Klaus Kinski relationship
- My Best Fiend [Roger Ebert review]
- Another review of this film - worth a look for the quotes, if you haven't seen the film.
- Wheel of Time [BBC]
- Details of this Herzog 2003 documentary - the links to the Herzog interview and Q&A (also on the BBC site) are worth exploring for more priceless quotes.
Features
- Invincible [Official Site]
- Includes stills and trailer for the film, as well as credits for cast and crew.
- Invincible - Herzog interview [indieWIRE]
- Also covers Ten Thousand Years Older.
- Invincible [Peter Bradshaw review]
- Peter Bradshaw's review in the Guardian. One of several reviews that seem to agree on a 'nice idea, shame about the execution' verdict, despite 'some brilliant moments.' (See the film anyway: it's filled with many kinds of magic, and the story is a wonderful consolidation of many Herzog themes. I loved it.)
- Fitzcarraldo in context of other megalomaniac directors' stories
- Guardian feature comparing the nightmares of making Fitzcarraldo, Apocalypse Now, Titanic, The Wild Bunch (but no Les Amants du Pont-Neuf?).
- Kaspar Hauser & other identity crises
- Essay by Adrian Martin situating Herzog's Kaspar Hauser among other 'Wild Boy' films and identity transformations in the cinema (e.g. Being John Malkovich).
- The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser [Derek Malcolm review]
- The Guardian's senior film writer compares Kaspar Hauser to other 'wild boy' films, and, at the end of the article, debunks one of the more celebrated Herzog myths.
Other Work
- Incident at Loch Ness [Official site]
- Web site for this spoof 'making of' documentary, in which Herzog plays himself as a mono-maniacal film director.
- Herzog Vs. Nessie [indieWIRE]
- Interview with director Zak Penn and actor Herzog about this feature.
- "The Transformation of the World into Music"
- Herzog spent a lot of the 1990s working on opera - this page touches on some of the links between his film and opera work.
Perspectives on Herzog
- Interview and Critical Biography [The Guardian]
- Extensive feature based around 2002 interview with Werner Herzog. A mix of 'old favourite' stories and myths with some new insights, including actors, friends and family.
- A Critical Biography
- A concise account that focuses on Herzog's work, with brief references to his life. Now quite out of date.
- Profile of Werner Herzog [FilmFour]
- Wittily and breezily written profile, covering feature and documentary work, though overstated ("the demon conquistador of the dream life"). Includes several good quotes, of which my favourite is "You will learn more by walking from Canada to Guatemala than you will ever learn in film school".
- Herzog: Mad Genius? [Boston Phoenix]
- Review of another documentary film about Herzog that challenges the received wisdom of him as recklessly single-minded Romantic.
- Life After Fire: Notes on Werner Herzog
- My own essay on Herzog.
- Burden of Dreams - film clips
- Clips from Les Blank's 'Burden of Dreams' - staggering documentary about the making of Herzog's Fitzcarraldo (1982).
- Burden of Dreams - Review
- Includes some of Herzog's most unnerving lines from the film.
Herzog in his own words
- Werner Herzog Film [official site]
- Includes biography, filmography and multimedia clips (requiring Flash), plus useful, extensive listing of films and writing about Herzog.
- Herzog quotes #1 [Wikiquote]
- A collection of Herzog's quotations - by turns inspirational, frightening and bewildering - on cinema and his experiences in making images.
- Herzog quotes #2
- My own collection of favourite quotes, now increasingly redundant in the light of Wikiquote.
- Interview with Werner Herzog [NPR]
- Sadly the archive stream of this fascinating 1998radio interview seems not to be available any longer.
- Werner directs Wagner [NPR]
- At the time of writing this 8 minute radio review and interview can still be heard as a RealPlayer stream.
Reference
- Filmography [IMDB]
- Internet Movie Database's full (40+ year) filmography for Herzog.
- Reading List [BFI/Wayback machine]
- Ten English language books about Herzog.
- More links
- In case this page isn't enough for you.
Miscellaneous
- Herzog Conference, London, 2005 [SDFVA/KIASH]
- The University of Kent, the Institut Francais and the Goethe-Institut London joined forces to celebrate and examine the cinema of Werner Herzog.
- On the trail of Herzog [The Spectator]
- Lucy Vickery reviews 1st Framework's 2004 Herzog day out, including an English re-creation of his walk in On Walking in Ice and a documentary screening.
- Of Walking in Ice, in Hertfordshire
- My own reflections on 1st Framework's event.
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Based in London, England, and interested in culture, learning and technology.
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