Dudes I’d like to be friends with
Herzog in ‘79 contemplating the complexities of suede soup
In what hopefully will be an ongoing series, I present to you the man whose crazy world has held me firmly in its grasp for the last few weeks—a friend even warned that I would get “Werned out” if I kept up my total immersion in the house of Herzog. I’m here to say that nothing of the kind happened, and that instead I am left with an intense desire to scour the mountains of Los Angeles in search of the Bavarian filmmaker, shoe-eater, and one time gun runner known as Werner Herzog.
For the uninitiated, I recommend watching this excerpt from a BBC interview in which an unknown sniper shoots Herzog in the abdomen with an air rifle. To me it’s the best distillation of Werner’s complete fearlessness—Werner even remarks at one point in the full length interview that he is “not afraid of anything.”
Herzog is initially unfazed by the pellet, and uses the opportunity to say, “The world is actually not very friendly to film making.” The most telling part though, comes when the oddly pompadoured interviewer brings up the incident, and before he can finish, Werner is suddenly smiling gleefully, saying, “It was not a significant bullet.” Then, with little provocation, Werner begins to undo his belt, drops trou, and in an effort to show the host that it was “not a significant wound,” pulls down his PURPLE POLKA-DOT BOXERS to reveal a still bleeding hole in his body, all the while laughing at its insignificance. The reveal of the boxers kills me every time, but it’s the line right after that really gets me, “It’s not an everyday thing, but it doesn’t surprise me to be shot at.”
Part of the genius of Werner, and what I believe makes him crazy—in a good way—is the casual and seemingly oblivious attitude he has towards the most amazing events. But then we’re talking about a guy who dragged a steam boat over a mountain, hypnotized a whole cast of actors for the duration of a film shoot (he even taught himself hypnosis after clashing with the hired hypnotist), and who once traveled on foot from Germany to France because it seemed the appropriate method of travel.
I recently finished reading Paul Cronin’s career-spanning book of interviews “Herzog on Herzog,” and highly recommend it. On nearly every page there’s some gem that made me laugh out loud. Here are a few of my favorite bon mots:
Herzog on the casting of his film “Even Dwarfs Started Small”: “Generally when you find one midget you find several, so I just went from one midget to the next, hiring their friends.”
Herzog on restaurants: “I am deeply scared by the sheer thought that somebody serves me as a waiter, and when it is overly formal then it is total misery for me. I would rather eat potato chips sitting on the sidewalk than go to one of these chic restaurants.”
Herzog on theatre: “I dislike theatre profoundly. The few theatrical productions that I have watched were an affront to the human spirit.”
Herzog on filmmaking: “The world is just not made for filmmaking. Every time you make a film you must be prepared to wrestle it away from the Devil himself. But carry on, dammit! Ignite the fire. Ultimately, the money will follow you like a common cur in the street with its tail between its legs.”
Herzog on television: “The biggest danger we face as a civilization, in my opinion, is television because to a certain degree it ruins our vision and makes us sad and lonesome. Our grandchildren will blame us for not tossing hand grenades into television stations because of the commercials. Television kills our imagination and what we end up with are worn out images because of the inability of too many people to seek out fresh ones.”
While I have to respectfully disagree with his assessment of television (I think there’s more good stuff on the air right now than in a long time), his verve and bold diction are inspiring—just like the man himself. If you haven’t seen his documentaries “Grizzly Man,” or “Little Dieter Needs to Fly,” do yourself a favor and check them out.
Here’s to you Werner. I would love to have a tête à tête over a warm Bavarian pretzel and a mug of cold German beer sometime.
I’ve been slowly working my way through Herzog’s oeuvre on Netflix. Right now I’ve got Incident at Loch Ness and I’m really looking forward to what he has to say. In a few weeks: Even Dwarves Started Small.
I’ve been doing the same thing, though lately I’ve been making my way through his documentaries. I saw “Incident at Loch Ness,” and really enjoyed the opening dinner scene. The item he chooses to cook for the meal is clasic Herzog. You’ll know it when you see it.
Thanks for turning me onto that Herzog interview. Grizzly Man was astounding, especially because I had low expectations going in. I’ve been meaning to get the 2 box sets of his classic films as 2 of my favorite bands claim to draw inspiration from them. I’ll defnitely pick them up soon.
Who are these bands you speak of? My interest is piqued.
Don’t forget the “Herzog on Herzog” book. There are so many amazing anecdotes and stories in it.
The bands would be Pig Destroyer (http://www.myspace.com/therealpigdestroyer) and The Mars Volta. Maybe your cup of tea, maybe not…
Yes, I’ll definitely purchase that book as well.