The new documentary "Werner Herzog – Radical Dreamer" (trailer) presents a comprehensive portrait of an iconic artist. It is about filmmaker Werner Herzog, whose films like "Fitzcarraldo" or "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" are classics and have long been part of collective cinema memory. In 2009, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of our time. At 80, Herzog continues to make films. Next-generation German filmmaker Thomas von Steinaecker accompanies him on shoots on Lanzarote and in his Bavarian home village of Sachrang, and follows him all the way to Los Angeles, where Herzog has been living for many years. In addition to Herzog himself, his wife Lena and his brothers have their say in the doc, as well as companions such as Wim Wenders and Volker Schlöndorff, and Hollywood stars with whom he has worked, including Nicole Kidman, Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson.
In the article "Welcome to Werner World," which we are bringing you in five parts over the next few weeks, von Steinaecker dives deep into his encounter with Herzog:
"... Almost a year later, in the fall of 2021, the first day of filming with Herzog.
Together with the camera crew, we drive to Sachrang, the mountain village of 500 people on the Tyrolean border where Herzog spent his childhood. He landed only the day before, coming from Los Angeles, and his unwillingness to be filmed now is palpable. We get out of the car next to a farm near the little house where Herzog once lived – and suddenly he’s changed. Abruptly, as in our Skype conversation, he begins to talk without restraint.
The somewhat sleepy tourist nest around us begins to transform into a place from archaic prehistory, indeed Herzog’s childhood itself sounds like a fairy tale. Three brothers growing up without a father, living with their mother. Bombed out in Munich, having fled to the mountains and destitute, the three boys, who have only each other, go through thick and thin together. Even later, after they’ve long grown up. The older one, Till, supports Werner financially, the younger one, Lucki, becomes his producer. In between is Werner, who at an early age is as irascible and strong-willed as he is convinced of himself and his talent. A story in once-upon-a-time mode, had it not actually happened, about the youth who sallied forth. In the tale, Herzog seems like the prototype of those characters who would later populate his films: driven by his own visions, always on the move, and at the same time an outsider in society.
Back to the world of childhood
At some point on this first day of filming, Herzog, who is visibly excited by his own narration, stands in the middle of the forest behind his former home in front of that enchanted waterfall where he played as a child. I can all of a sudden see how this body of water flows directly from Bavaria into the Peruvian jungle and into the raging Urubamba, a river of dreams. There’s nothing melodramatic about it, but completely logical, when Herzog, who has gazed for a long time at the puddle under the stream of water, slowly turns around and then says earnestly, 'This waterfall, it’s me.'”
Werner Herzog – Radical Dreamer by Thomas von Steinaecker (Germany 2022) premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in honour of Herzog’s 80th birthday. It stars Werner Herzog with appearances by Patti Smith, Paul Holdengräber, Chloé Zhao and more. The documentary is a Hot Docs Partners project.
Author, journalist, and film director Thomas von Steinaecker was born in Germany in 1977. His acclaimed novels include Wallner beginnt zu Fliegen and Die Verteidigung des Paradieses, both of which were nominated for the German Book Prize. His films include Richard Strauss and his Heroines and Leonard Bernstein The Torn Genius.
Article "Welcome to Werner-World“ by Thomas von Steinaecker/FAZ.NET, 9 September 2022, translated with permission. © All Rights Reserved. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH, Frankfurt.
image © 3B Produktion
