“Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer” is a documentary scanning the live and films of German director Werner Herzog. Herzog quips all his films emanate from pain and not pleasure. While many of the actors and directors in the documentary laud Herzog as a dreamer Herzog says he rarely dreams but sometimes when walking or driving long distances his vision is surrounded by insects and butterflies a sort of dream for him. He believes we all have deep stories within us that are not yet articulated but their articulation is equivalent to dreaming.
Herzog’s family was bombed out in Munich in the Second World War so his brothers and mother were located to a small Bavarian town. His father had deserted the family prior to their move to the countryside. They subsisted on little food and he remembers perpetual hunger. After the ending of the Second World War, he worked the night shift in a metallurgical plant and with his wages started his career making short films. The 1960’s saw a slew of German rustically based and schmaltzy films with no city scenes, young people or social relevance. By 1965 several young German directors situated in Munich began to change all that.
The documentary presents a visually captivating cruise through Herzog’s career including the visually stunning 1972 masterpiece “Aguirre: The Search For God” which if you have yet to see shame on you and me for that matter for not having watched that film and the many other Herzog gems. Herzog novices and aficionados alike should find the documentary riveting.
Directed by Thomas Steinaecker.
Limited Canadian theatrical release on 19January2024.
RKS 2024 Film Rating 88/100.
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