Werner Herzog - A Guide for the Perplexed: Conversations with Paul Cronin

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Werner Herzog - A Guide for the Perplexed: Conversations with Paul Cronin Page 63

by Paul Cronin


  Apart from the two Les Blank films mentioned above, there are a small number of worthwhile documentaries about Herzog. Thomas Mauch’s short film from 1972 Der Welt zeigen, dass man noch da ist [Show the World We’re Still There] features footage shot on the set of Signs of Life, Even Dwarfs Started Small and Aguirre, and audio of Herzog and Kinski. I Am My Films, parts of which were filmed in Herzog’s Munich apartment by Erwin Keusch and Christian Weisenborn in 1979, includes a conversation between him and Laurens Straub, footage shot on the set of Stroszek and of Herzog listening to a recording of Kinski screaming at him during the production of Aguirre. (Its lacklustre sequel, I Am My Films: Part 2 … Thirty Years Later, filmed in Herzog’s Los Angeles home by Christian Weisenborn, was produced in 2010.) In 1982 the British arts programme The South Bank Show produced Jack Bond’s hour-long film, which was broadcast to mark the release of Fitzcarraldo. It includes Herzog reading the Robert Walser poem featured at the end of The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner, driving around the menhirs of Carnac, showing us his home town of Sachrang, football training alongside his Schwarz/Gelb München teammates, and in conversation with Lotte Eisner. Herzog’s own half-hour Werner Herzog: Filmmaker (1986) – which recycles its best moments from The South Bank Show and Burden of Dreams – includes footage of him drinking beer at the Oktoberfest. To the Limit and then Beyond is an hour-long “film essay” by Peter Buchka containing good interview material, produced in 1989 by Bayerischen Rundfunk.

  In 1993 Milan released Best of Popol Vuh: Werner Herzog, which contains Florian Fricke’s music from Aguirre, Nosferatu, Fitzcarraldo, Cobra Verde and The Dark Glow of the Mountains. A 2010 box set, released by SPV, entitled Popol Vuh: The Werner Herzog Sountracks, contains a pamphlet with photos and liner notes, and five CDs: music from Aguirre, Heart of Glass, Nosferatu, Fitzcarraldo and Cobra Verde. Winter & Winter released Ernst Reijseger’s soundtracks to My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2010), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011) and, on a single CD entitled Requiem for a Dying Planet, The Wild Blue Yonder and The White Diamond (2006). In 2013 Winter & Winter released Eroberung des Nutzlosen, a recording of Herzog and Reijseger’s performances in Berlin. Cooking Vinyl issued Richard Thompson’s music for Grizzly Man in 2005.

  For more in English on modern German cinema, Sabine Hake’s German National Cinema (Routledge, 2001) is a good summary, though for specifics on New German Cinema, James Franklin’s New German Cinema (Columbus Books, 1986) and Thomas Elsaesser’s New German Cinema (Rutgers University Press, 1989) are more substantial. Elsaesser and Michael Wedel’s The BFI Companion to German Cinema (BFI, 1999) is also a solid alphabetical listing, while Eric Rentschler’s West German Filmmakers on Film, Visions and Voices (Holmes and Meier, 1988) is a useful collection of writings by West German directors (including Kluge, Straub, Syberberg, Achternbusch, Schlöndorff, Wenders, Fassbinder and Herzog), and also contains the texts of the Oberhausen, Mannheim and Hamberg Manifestos. There is a longer German edition, edited by Helmut Prinzler and Eric Rentschler, entitled Der alte Film war tot (Verlag der Autoren, 2001).

  In recent years there has been an explosion of all things Klaus Kinski. His crazed autobiography, of which there exist two versions, is a grotesque and sensational rant. Ich bin so wild nach deinem Erdbeermund (the opening line of a François Villon poem; literally: Lusting for your Strawberry Lips) was first published in 1975 (Rogner & Bernhard), with a French edition the following year (Crever pour vivre, Belfond). Two English editions were released as All I Need Is Love (Random House, 1988) and Kinski Uncut (US: Viking, 1996; UK: Bloomsbury, 1997), both shorter versions of the German Ich brauche Liebe (Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1991). Kinski (Parthas, 2000) is a collection of photographs by Beat Presser. Ich, Kinski, published by the Deutsches Filmmusem in Frankfurt, and Klaus Kinski “Ich bin so wie ich bin” (Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag) (both 2001) are collections of essays and photos. Fieber: Tagebuch eines Aussätzigen, a collection of Kinski’s own poetry (with photographs), was published by Eichborn Verlag (2001). Two biographies exist in German, one by Peter Geyer (Suhrkamp, 2006), the other by Christian David (Aufbau, 2006). Kinski’s Jesus Christus Erlöser (Surhkamp, 2006) is a book detailing his 1971 performance in Berlin. A recording of the event was released in 2006 (Random House Audio) and a DVD issued in 2009. Kinski Vermächtnis is a mammoth scrapbook, edited by Peter Geyer and O. A. Krimmel, published by Edel in 2011, and contains a wealth of writings, documents and photographs. Many of Kinski’s audio recordings (all in German) have been released over the past few years, notably the twelve-CD set Kinski Spricht: Werke der Weltliteratur (Deutsche Grammophon, 2003). In 1990 Amadeo released a CD of Kinski readings entitled Ich bin so wild nach deinem Erdbeermund, and in 2001 Deutsche Grammophon published Klaus Kinski, a single CD of readings from, among others, Dostoyevsky and Nietzsche. Klaus Kinski Productions produced an audio version of Kinski’s book Fieber, with Ben Becker reading the poetry (2001). In 2002 Random House Audio released Klaus Kinski: Hörspiele, readings from the archives of Hessischen Rundfunk, and in 2006 issued a 1956 recording of Kinski playing the title role in Henry IV. Three DVDs of filmed interviews with Kinski (entitled Kinski Talks) were released between 2010 and 2012 by Klaus Kinski Productions, and his film Kinski/Paganini is available on DVD. Kinski’s daughter Pola published a memoir entitled Kindermund [Child’s Mouth] in 2013 (Suhrkamp), in which she details the decade-long sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her father.

  The following is an incomplete list of DVD/Blu-ray editions of Herzog’s films. Most titles in the Anchor Bay Entertainment (US) DVD box sets from 2004 (one with the five Kinski features plus My Best Fiend, the other containing The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, Even Dwarfs Started Small, Fata Morgana, Lessons of Darkness, Heart of Glass, Stroszek and Little Dieter Needs to Fly) include audio commentaries recorded by Herzog. The two box sets issued by Opening (France) in 2006 contain a selection of features and documentaries alongside a two-hour filmed interview. A six-disc set was released by Arthaus (Germany) in 2007, four of which (Kaspar Hauser, Fata Morgana, Stroszek and Signs of Life) include commentaries by Herzog in German. In 2011 Werner Herzog Filmproduktion published the thirteen-disc box set Documentaries 1962–2005, and the following year from StudioCanal (Germany) came the five Kinski films on Blu-ray. The British Film Institute’s eight-disc DVD/seven-disc Blu-ray sets from 2014 consist of eighteen digitally remastered features and shorts (some of which include audio commentary), plus a few extras, including The South Bank Show (see above). A slimmed-down version was issued (Blu-ray only) by Shout! (US).

  Filmography

  “I have worked with the same crew now for fourteen years, and some of them are among the best there are in the world today. They are the real authors of my films; we have a similar outlook and sensibility. I decide on the subject matter, and we do everything else together.”

  Werner Herzog

  Cinéma, October 1979

  1957

  A Lost Western [unreleased]

  Fiction, 6 minutes, 8mm, b/w

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Screenplay: Werner Herzog

  Location: Munich

  1962

  Herakles

  Fiction, 12 minutes, 35mm, b/w

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Screenplay: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Jaime Pacheco

  Editor: Werner Herzog

  Sound: Werner Herzog

  Music: Uwe Brandner

  Production Company: Cineropa Film

  Featuring: Mr Germany 1962

  1964

  Spiel im Sand (Game in the Sand) [unreleased]

  Non-fiction, 14 minutes, 35mm, b/w

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Jaime Pacheco

  Editor: Werner Herzog

  Sound: Werner Herzog

  Music: Uwe Brandner

  Production Company: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

  Location: Austria

>   1966

  Die beispiellose Verteidigung der Festung Deutschkreuz (The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz)

  Fiction, 15 minutes, 35mm, b/w

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Screenplay: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Jaime Pacheco

  Editor: Werner Herzog

  Sound: Uwe Brandner

  Production Companies: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Arpa-Film

  Location: Burgenland (Austria)

  Cast: Peter Brumm, Georg Eska, Karl-Heinz Steffel, Wolfgang von Ungern-Sternberg

  Premiere: April 1967, Oberhausen Short Film Festival

  1967

  Letzte Worte (Last Words)

  Fiction, 13 minutes, 35mm, b/w

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Screenplay: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Thomas Mauch

  Editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus

  Sound: Herbert Prasch

  Music: Folkmusic of Crete

  Production Company: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

  Locations: Crete, Kos (Greece)

  Premiere: April 1968, Oberhausen Short Film Festival

  1968

  Lebenszeichen (Signs of Life)

  Fiction, 87 minutes, 35mm, b/w

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Screenplay: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Thomas Mauch

  Editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus

  Sound: Herbert Prasch

  Music: Stavros Xarchakos

  Production Company: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

  Locations: Crete, Kos (Greece)

  Cast: Peter Brogle (Stroszek), Wolfgang Reichmann (Meinhard), Athina Zacharopoulou (Nora), Wolfgang von Ungern-Sternberg (Becker), Wolfgang Stumpf (Captain), Henry van Lyck (Lieutenant), Florian Fricke (Pianist)

  Premiere: June 1968, Berlin Film Festival

  1969

  Massnahmen gegen Fanatiker (Precautions against Fanatics)

  Fiction, 12 minutes, 35mm, colour

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Screenplay: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Dieter Lohmann

  Editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus

  Sound: Werner Herzog

  Production Company: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

  Location: Munich

  Cast: Petar Radenković, Mario Adorf, Hans Tiedemann, Herbert Hisel, Peter Schamoni

  Premiere: March 1969, Oberhausen Short Film Festival

  1969

  Die fliegenden Ärzte von Ostafrika (The Flying Doctors of East Africa)

  Fiction, 45 minutes, 35mm, colour

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Executive Producer: Eleonore Semler

  Camera: Thomas Mauch

  Editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus

  Sound: Werner Herzog

  Production Company: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion (for the African Medical & Research Foundation)

  Locations: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania

  Participants: Dr Michael Wood, Dr Ann Spoery, Betty Miller, James Kabale

  Premiere: March 1970, ZDF (German television)

  1970

  Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen (Even Dwarfs Started Small)

  Fiction, 96 minutes, 35mm, b/w

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Screenplay: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Thomas Mauch, Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein

  Editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus, Maximiliane Mainka

  Sound: Herbert Prasch

  Music: Florian Fricke (Popol Vuh) and folk songs of Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa, Canary Islands

  Production Company: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

  Location: Lanzarote (Canary Islands)

  Cast: Helmut Döring (Hombre), Gerd Gickel (Pepe), Paul Glauer (Erzieher), Erna Gschwendtner (Azúcar), Gisela Hertwig (Pobrecita)

  Premiere: May 1970, Cannes Film Festival

  1970

  Fata Morgana

  Non-fiction, 79 minutes, 35mm, colour

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein

  Editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus

  Sound: Hans von Mallinckrodt

  Music: Leonard Cohen, Blind Faith, Couperin, Mozart, Handel

  Production Company: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

  Locations: Southern Sahara, Cameroon, Canary Islands

  Participants: Wolfgang von Ungern-Sternberg, James William Gledhill, Eugen des Montagnes

  Premiere: May 1970, Cannes Film Festival

  1971

  Behinderte Zukunft (Handicapped Future)

  Non-fiction, 43 minutes, 16mm, colour

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein

  Editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus

  Sound: Werner Herzog

  Production Company: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion (for North Rhine-Westphalia)

  Locations: Munich, Hannover, Los Angeles

  Participants: Adolph Ratzka

  1971

  Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit (Land of Silence and Darkness)

  Non-fiction, 85 minutes, 16mm, colour

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein

  Editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus

  Sound: Werner Herzog

  Music: Bach, Vivaldi

  Production Company: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion (for North Rhine-Westphalia)

  Locations: Munich, Niederbayern, Hannover

  Participants: Fini Straubinger, Else Fährer, Ursula Riedmeier, Joseph Riedmeier, Vladimir Kokol, Heinrich Fleischmann, Resi Mittermeier

  Premiere: October 1978, Mannheim Film Festival

  1972

  Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (Aguirre, the Wrath of God)

  Fiction, 93 minutes, 35mm, colour

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Screenplay: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Thomas Mauch

  Editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus

  Sound: Herbert Prasch

  Music: Florian Fricke (Popol Vuh)

  Production Companies: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Hessischer Rundfunk

  Location: Peru (Urubamba Valley, River Huallaga, River Nanay, Cusco)

  Cast: Klaus Kinski (Lope de Aguirre), Helena Rojo (Inez de Atienza), Del Negro (Carvajal), Ruy Guerra (Ursúa), Peter Berling (Guzman), Cecilia Rivera (Flores), Daniel Ades (Perucho)

  Premiere: December 1972, Germany

  1973

  Die grosse Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner (The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner)

  Non-fiction, 47 minutes, 16mm, colour

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein

  Editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus

  Sound: Benedikt Kuby

  Music: Florian Fricke (Popol Vuh)

  Production Company: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion (for Süddeutscher Rundfunk)

  Locations: Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany), Planica (Slovenia)

  Participant: Walter Steiner

  Premiere: November 1974, Munich

  1974

  Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle (The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser)

  Fiction, 109 minutes, 35mm, colour

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Screenplay: Werner Herzog

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein

  Editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus, Martha Lederer

  Sound: Haymo Henry Heyder

  Music: Florian Fricke (Popol Vuh), Mozart, di Lasso, Albinoni, Pachelbel

  Production Companies: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Zwe
ites Deutsches Fernsehen

  Location Dinkelsbühl, Ireland, Spanish Sahara

  Cast: Bruno S. (Kaspar), Walter Ladengast (Daumer), Brigitte Mira (Kathe), Hans Musäus (Unknown man), Willy Semmelrogge (Circus Director), Michael Kroecher (Stanhope), Henry van Lyck (Cavalry Captain), Enno Patalas (Vicar Fuhrmann), Florian Fricke (Florian), Clemens Scheitz (Scribe)

  Premiere: November 1974, Dinkelsbühl

  1976

  Herz aus Glas (Heart of Glass)

  Fiction, 97 minutes, 35mm, colour

  Director: Werner Herzog

  Screenplay: Werner Herzog, Herbert Achternbusch

  Producer: Werner Herzog

  Camera: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein

  Editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus

  Sound: Haymo Henry Heyder

  Music: Florian Fricke (Popol Vuh), Studio der Frühen Musik

  Production Companies: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen

  Locations: Bavaria, Skellig Rock (Ireland), Graubünden (Switzerland), Alaska, Monument Valley, Yellowstone National Park, Niagra Falls

  Cast: Josef Bierbichler (Hias), Stefan Güttler (Factory Owner), Clemens Scheitz (Adalbert), Volker Prechtel (Wudy), Sonja Skiba (Ludmilla), Brunhilde Klöckner (Paulin), Wolf Albrecht (Sam), Thomas Binkley (Lute Player), Janos Fischer (Ägide)

  Premiere: November 1976, Paris Film Festival

 

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