Werner Herzog: Interviews

Conversations With Filmmakers Series

by Eric Ames (Editor)

Over the course of his career, legendary director Werner Herzog (b. 1942) has made almost sixty films and given more than eight hundred interviews. This collection features the best of these, focusing on all the major films, from Signs of Life and Aguirre, the Wrath of God to Grizzly Man and Cave of Forgotten Dreams. When did Herzog decide to become a filmmaker? Who are his key influences? Where does he find his peculiar themes and characters? What role does music play in his films? How does he see himself in relation to the German past and in relation to film history? And how did he ever survive the wrath of Klaus Kinski? Herzog answers these and many other questions in twenty-five interviews ranging from the 1960s to the present.

Critics and fans recognized Herzog's importance as a young German filmmaker early on, but his films have attained international significance over the decades. Most of the interviews collected in this volume--some of them from Herzog's production archive and previously unpublished--appear in English for the very first time. Together, they offer an unprecedented look at Herzog's work, his career, and his public persona as it has developed and changed over time.

Genres: Film, Art, Media Tie In

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Alialiarya · Rating 4 out of 5]

‏من به ندرت چیزی این‌همه تکان‌دهنده، زیبا و شاعرانه دیده‌ام

ورنر هرتزوگ درباره‌ی کلوزآپ کیارستمی

[Bill Petersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of Werner Herzog's films and documentary style, I took a chance on reading this collection of interviews Herzog has given over the span of his career. In reading Eric Ames' introduction and intent of the book, this collection of interviews acts as a "autobiography" of the film-maker "Werner Herzog" as opposed to a more cut and dry biography of Werner Herzog the person.

Gleaning from his work, his TV interviews and reading these interviews, one gets the sense that Werner has always been fascinated by the myth and image and what exactly makes the person. His brief recollections of walking across Europe, working as a truck driver and bull wrangler, stealing camera equipment and just going out to 'make his films' give one the sense of a man always aware of the image of the artist he is creating, not just for himself, but for posterity sake.

This book had me laughing to the point of tears as he calmly states in matter-of-fact words his working with non-actors under hypnosis, the provocations of working with Klaus Kinski, how his films are intended to be viewed 40,000 years from now and why monkeys make every situation clearer.

For fans of Werner, I would recommend this book as an insight into the film-maker's thoughts about his own films but also as a way to understand the image of "Werner" that Werner has spent a life time creating.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't read all of these, as I'm not familiar with all of his films, but the ones I did delve into were fairly entertaining. There's no such thing as small talk for Herzog, and the ideas that he engages with, and the things he talks about in response to routine questions are pretty astounding. He's also so ridiculously hilarious in his persona, and is eminently quotable. Sadly, the power of his storytelling is lost in the written interviews, but it was nice to have access to the translations. This is good for folks who know and love his filmsn

[Michael Samerdyke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been impressed by Werner Herzog. He doesn't think like a typical movie director, and this book of interviews shows the depths of his thinking.

The book tracks Herzog's career from the end of the Sixties to about 2011, showing how he has been influenced by both his German/Bavarian heritage and landscapes that he has encountered in his travels.

His discussion is more philosophical than the usual film director's interviews, but I appreciated that and found his ideas very thought-provoking.

[Myrna Bouchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read. Spurred me to obtain and watch some of his movies.