Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer

CinemaSerfAug 2024

3.0

A bit like with the late Ennio Morricone, I'd love to just sit in a room with Werner Herzog and chat. He's such an enigmatic character who comes across in this documentary as a human being of vision and imagination, sure, but also as a man who cares about ensuring that the audience never bore of his work. The range of his projects is well illustrated here from his embryonic (and not exactly great) stuff from the later 1960s through his successes with "Aguirre" (1972), "Nosferatu" (1979) and "Fitzcarraldo" (1982) whilst we learn of his tempestuous relationship with the headstrong Klaus Kinski as well as how he faced struggles from childhood in post war Germany all the way through to funding films that drag dilapidated paddle steamers across South American hilltops. Of course, there's the obligatory collection of adulatory comments - some more interesting than others, but essentially what makes this work is the time we get to spend with him at his home. His conversation is laced with a sense of goodwill towards his audiences that is at tines quite contagious. His determination never to settle for second best or to churn out same old, same old is palpable and his ability to embrace concepts from differing genres, for differing age groups and to participate in the development and evolution of his medium is really quite inspiring to watch. Unfortunately, there just isn't enough of that intimacy and the film all too often falls into the trap of the supporting quotes. Be they from Wim Wenders or Nicole Kidman, I just don't think they added much to what I wanted to see and that was just him in a room with some fine wine and meandering natter. A charismatic man with a limitless ability to dream - and if you're at all interested in just how cinema got to where it is now (warts and all) then this is well worth a watch.