The journey with Herzog starts with “Signs of Life” (Lebenszeichen - 1968 ). Funnily Signs of life starts with not much signs of life. Into an hour the movie does not seem to go anywhere, and one might find it totally lackadaisical - and then things begin to pick and change drastically. This is for certain that one may not be likely to see another film like Signs of Life.
The takeaway is that when there is nothing much to do and when one is plagued by boredom – one might then find oneself sinking into madness.
In Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), a film not for everybody, the plot makes it clear that if you follow a madman, he will lead you to your doom. This work is about our world which has gone crazy, where greed and obsession controls the world, where people are dehumanized; the work is about insanity, coercion, domination, dangerous nature, traditions, control and the great Klaus Kinski.
The Enigma of Kasper Hauser {1974} is hard to deal with and involves the insanity of everyday life, brutality, authority, hostility, loneliness and isolation.
Stroszek {1977}, with great music by Chet Atkins (The Last Thing on My Mind/On my way down to Phoenix) and Sonny Terry (Old Lost John) delves in alienation and how the system chokes and devours you if you are not ‘intelligent’, ‘smart’, or ‘clever’, (read ‘social misfits’). A great work by Bruno Schleinstein, who also was in the lead in ‘The Enigma of Kasper Hauser’.
Heart of glass {1976} is not a very accessible movie, but it nevertheless shows a miserable human condition and how extreme obsession leads to helplessness and eventual madness. It illustrates how human being strive to realize their dreams, driven and controlled by the society and where there is a complete absence of personal dreams
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) showcases Klaus Kinski . Period!
The urge to break free and destroy a system or machinery that confines you and a rage against civilization is described well in Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970). At first glance this revolutionary work looks bizarre but eventually succeeds in making you feel like a dwarf in front of the authorities which in any case treats you like a mental inhabitant. The music is a reminder of our own Santhals’ composition. If you are easily offended, stay away from this zone.
In the Documentary “Into the Abyss” {2011} it raises questions as to why first people kill people, and then the Government kills people, like the eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, taken of straight from the Old Testament….
Werner Herzog would continue with his interest in isolation, obsession and madness with Fata Morgana (1972)
Woyzeck (1979) will tell you why after watching Klaus Kinski you will not be able to go back and see “Hollywood” stars. Herzog demonstrates frustration and madness and an out of control Klaus Kinski. This is not a film for everybody.
Fitzcarraldo(1982) : The West encroaches on other cultures and we are in awe of them. We are all in shit and we gaze at the stars. One man’s dream and obsession (eccentricity) of bringing the opera in the city leading him to push a boat up the mountain to reach a parallel river where he can get to the rubber trees to satiate his greed is not exactly everyone’s cup of tea. One begins to understand Herzog at this juncture. He no longer is a film maker but gradually metamorphosis to an adventurer. Here you also begin to ask: Who is crazy? Kinski or Herzog?
Where the Green Ants Dream (1984): It portrays the futile struggle of an Aboriginal tribe against the needs and greed of civilization. It shows the clash of the old with the new, the mindless and soul-less rush of progress versus conservation, destruction of ancient civilization and how the lead actor Bruce Spence tries to enlighten his hypothesis of space and time to one of the aborigines.
Cobra Verde (1987) is a journey to the unknown. Welcome to another world.
Lessons of Darkness {1992} gives a bird-eye view of man literally screwing the only earth he has, of war, of destructions, of end of life, of disaster, of horror,
Invincible {2001} gives the impression that like thousands of red crab crawling all over the rocks, we human beings too seem to be endlessly and meaninglessly in a bid to look for a non-existent meaning of life, keeps clambering all over the earth.
People have heard of Helen Keller. Werner Herzog introduces the obsessed Hollywood world to Fini Straubinger. Land of Silence and Darkness (1971) deals with isolation loneliness, insensitive and senseless world. How do we exist with our insignificant problems? Existential to the core! It also makes me realize how selfish we are and exposes our indifference and cruelty as an Indian.
The Wild Blue yonder (2005) is prescribed for die hard Werner Herzog fans and idealistic idiots, not for anybody else (it might put you off very quickly). Somewhere you may have that feeling that the Alien is a very seriously confused human being, representing the bulk of Americans. It also depicts the genius and the absurdity of humankind. Don’t watch this – Do something else. What the “___”?
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009) looks at a ‘true story’ character who gradually loses his sanity whilst living in the character of a play that he is performing and kills his own mother. The adulation and adoration of the protagonist towards his mother reminds one of Norman Bates (Remember? Mother. . . .!). One feels like jumping over the walls of an insane asylum and trying to seek the truth - whatever that means.
Rescue Dawn (2006) takes Werner Herzog again to difficult locations and shows that sometimes mere survival becomes somewhat impossible. There is this struggle and effort for mere existence – from captivity to loneliness to friendship to despair to sacrifice to freedom. It also reassures that man adapts himself to any change of environment - hostile or otherwise – cope with it and strive to have a miserable existence.
The list is long and meandering. Nevertheless, went through the following works of Werner Herzog:
{1962} - Herakles
{1967} - The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz
{1968} - Last Words
{1968} - Lebenszeichen {Signs Of Life}
{1969} - Fata Morgana
{1969} - Massnahmen Gegen Fanatiker
{1970} - Even Dwarfs Started Small
{1971} - Land of Silence and Darkness
{1972} - Aguire, The Wrath Of God
{1974} - The Enigma Of Kasper Hauser
{1974} - The Great Ecstasy of the Woodcarver Steiner
{1976} - Heart Of Glass
{1976} - How much Wood would a Woodchuck chuck
{1977} - La Soufriere
{1977} - Stroszek
{1978} - I Am My Films - A Portrait of Werner Herzog
{1979} - Nosferatu The Vampyre
{1979} - Woyzech
{1981} - Gods Angry Man
{1982} - Fitzcarraldo
{1984} - Ballad of the little soldier
{1984} - Where the Green Ants Dream
{1987} - Cobra Verde
{1989} - Wodaabe – Herdsmen of the Sun
{1990} - 1990 - Echoes From a Somber Empire
{1992} - Lessons Of Darkness - Iraq War
{1993} - 1993_Bells From The Deep
{1997} - 1997_Little Dieter Needs to Fly
{1999} - Mein Liebster Feind aka My Best Fiend
{2000} - Wings Of Hope
{2001} - Invincible
{2001} - Pilgrimage
{2003} - Wheel of Time ◦
{2004} - Incident at Loch Ness
{2004} - The White Diamond
{2005} - Grizzly Man
{2005} - The Wild Blue Yonder
{2007} - Encounters At The End Of The World
{2007} - Rescue Dawn
{2009} - La Boheme
{2009} - My Son My Son, What have You Done
{2009} - The Bad Lieutenant
{2010} - Cave Of Forgotten Dreams
{2011} - Into The Abyss {A Tale of Death, a Tale of Life}
{2012} - An Evening with Werner Herzog
{2012} - On Death Row
After this marathon experience - life looked strange and empty.
