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