When we first started this blog almost two months ago, one of the first things we excitedly wrote about was the Werner Herzog documentary, er non-fiction, retrospective at New York’s estimable film repertory theater, Film Forum. This past Saturday (May 19) we saw the thematic double feature of “Little Dieter Needs To Fly” and “Wings of Hope,” (two films about extraordinary people escaping the jungles; the former a POW camp in Vietnam, the latter a teenage girl surviving the Amazon. Both involved in plane crashes) and Herzog himself was on hand to speak and introduce the films.
If you know Herzog (called the “Celluloid Conquistador” by critic J. Hoberman), you know the German director has a way with words; a masterful embellisher, often hypercritical, hyperbolic, unintentionally funny yet full of poetic insight and profundity (which is not unlike the tone of his films). The self-deprecating filmmaker amusingly started off his appearance by apologizing for the poor quality of some of the films in the collection. While he noted that some new prints had been struck, he noted, “to you some will surely be an embarrassment, but better than nothing at all” (‘Dieter’ and ‘Wings’ were both in perfectly fine condition). He also lamented the “concessions” of his personally curated picks, but noted that all the films were “close to my heart.”
The enthusiastic applause after ‘Dieter’ triggered Herzog’s memory of the original reaction to the film by the German ZDF television exec that had commissioned the film for a series entitled “Journey Into Hell.” The exec asked where the toilet was as he felt the film was “appallingly bad” and wanted to vomit (and stayed in the lavatory for 20 minutes doing so).
When asked about his predilection for films centering on the primal vs. the rational, Herzog dismissed having any such “theoretical aims,” using [“Grizzly Man” subject] psychopathic nature enthusiast Timothy Treadwell as an example of subjects who do all the work for him: “He unravels on camera, almost suicidal; he illustrates all the spectrum of humanity.”
“I do not try and define rationality, it would never occur to me to do so,” he said calling his own approach much more spontaneous.
Herzog’s “non-fiction” films are notoriously slippery with fact and reality and the director makes no bones about his distaste for straight-up documentary film. “Cinéma vérité is accountant’s truth,” he said (and famously says often) and by openly shaping and distorting reality if necessary he, “illuminates a deeper truth.” (what Herzog notoriously calls a higher, “ecstatic truth”). “I’m careful and cautious of the term re-enactments,” he said trying to distance himself from docu-dramas.
Highlights and anecdotes of Herzog’s talk:
– Herzog, who had spent time in an African prison, was originally asked to use his own life experiences for the “Journeys Into Hell” series. He dismissed the request. “I will not circle around my own navel.”
– Despite Herzog’s insistence to the contrary, Dieter Dengler (no relation to Carlos D.) was convinced his story would reap him riches and kept asking Herzog how they would “share the loot.”
– Dengler was originally unsure whether he wanted to participate in a film about his capture in Vietnam. The crafty director appealed to him the only way he knew how: by driving up to his door with camera crew in hand. Dengler’s vanity and ego had no choice but to relent.
– Dengler died 5 years ago succumbing to Lou Gehrig’s disease. He “died like a warrior.”
– On whether his subjects liked the films made about their extraordinary experiences. “I cannot waste my life cringing with worry about whether they [like the films] or not. I am a storyteller and a filmmaker.”
– On borrowing the name “Stroszek” for his titular 1977 film. The original character, named Henry S., didn’t want his surname used, so the director asked another friend if he could use his Stroszek last name. “What’s in it for me?,” his friend asked? “I will make your name immortal,” the director answered.
– In difficult situations Herzog tends to ask himself, “What would Dieter do?”
Manufactured Consent: Herzog’s Fabrications
Herzog openly admits to reshaping and arranging behind the camera (hence clinging to the non-fiction nomenclature)
– Herzog said that Dengler’s OCD-like compulsive door proclivities were his “own invention.”
– Similarly, the door paintings in Dengler’s house which Herzog makes liberated metaphor of, are nothing but household observation the director made. Dengler said they were just paintings he “got at a bargain price.”
– The scene in which Dengler (spoiler ahead) tells the story about his friend Duane’s decapitation: Herzog shot the scene 6 times trying to get Dengler to tell the story in the shortest, most economical way (the original, unedited version went on for more than 30 minutes).
– Other inventions: the jellyfish as death scene and the gigantic airstrip dream. The former was something Herzog coached his subject onto and the latter was another metaphoric invention.
– Juliane Koepcke’s “nightmare” dreams in “Wings of Hope” (an obvious invention that the audience snickered at).
Unfinished Business Complete: “Rescue Dawn”
After both films screened, Herzog treated the audience to a surprise, 5 minute exclusive sneak peek at his upcoming feature film, “Rescue Dawn,” which is based on his “Little Dieter Needs to Fly” and the experiences of the captured Vietnam vet Dieter Dengler. Emaciated again (though not as skeletal as “The Machinist”), Christian Bale plays Dengler, Steve Zahn is his buddy Duane and Jeremy Davies is another unnamed captured American soldier. The first ‘Dawn’ scene that Herzog previewed was taken almost verbatim from ‘Little Dieter’ where Bale (as Dengler) answers the question, “When did you know you first wanted to fly?” It was fascinating to watch Herzog cannibalize his own work.
The following scene was an evening incident where Davies and Bale argue over whether they should escape. Davies character, clearly out of his mind and having already resided in the POW camp for two-harrowing years threatens to narc on Bale if he even attempts to escape.
When Dengler originally saw the complete, ‘Little Dieter’ he turned to Herzog and said, “This is unfinished business.” Herzog said by this he meant there was much more to his story, but Dengler did not want tell these stories on camera and disgrace the memory of the soldiers he was POW’d with. The director said, “Rescue Dawn,” fills out the rest of the story and focuses significantly on the conflict between the captives themselves (in fact, he calls ‘Little Dieter’ the sequel to “Rescue Dawn” not interested that the non-fiction version came nearly a decade earlier). Gone nearly batshit from horrible conditions, starvation and brutal torture Dengler told Herzog that many times these conflicts would become extremely acrimonious. “I would have strangled and murdered some of them if I was given half the chance.”
Herzog Non-Fiction runs May 18- June 7.
Watch: “Rescue Dawn” Trailer