New Acquisition: Stroszek (1977)

 

New Acquisition: Herz aus Glas (1976)

 

New Acquisition: Werner Herzog

 

Encounters at the End of the World (2007)

 

Film-maker Werner Herzog travels to the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, looking to capture the continent's beauty and investigate the characters living there.

Typical for Werner Herzog, this exploration of a forbiddingly uninhabitable and strange continent is idiosyncratic and intense and offers insights no other director would achieve.

On re-watching: Always a fascinating watch, among Herzog's best documentaries.

Maltin***1/2: "This right-brain travelogue feeds the mind, the eye, and the mind's eye. Wryly, sometimes impatiently, narrated by the director, who dedicates the film to Roger Ebert."

 

Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972)

 

In the 16th century, the ruthless and insane Don Lope de Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.

Arguably, Werner Herzog's greatest masterpiece, this a hypnotic, almost surreal tale of a downward spiral into an unknown void, full of breathtaking images and sequences and a diabolically intense performance by Klaus Kinski.

Halliwell****: "Absorbing conquistador melodrama, vividly assembled and impossible to forget."

Maltin***1/2: "Powerful, hypnotic tale...Dream-like film...Kinski is perfect as the mad Aguirre." 

Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979)

 

New acquisition: Grizzly Man (2005)

 

New acquisition: Rescue Dawn (2006)

 

Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979)

 

Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979)

 

Fitzcarraldo (1982)

 

The story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man who intends to build an opera house in the middle of a jungle.

From memory: Werner Herzog's magnum opus is a massive and powerful film, it's story of a Gargantuan and nearly mad project clearly references to the making of this work itself, captured in breathtaking pictures and set pieces, and with Klaus Kinski in a role that is obviously the culmination (and summation) of his career.

Halliwell****: "A strange and brilliant film centring on the hero's successful attempt to drag his massive boat from one river to another."

Maltin****: "Vivid, fascinating portrait...Astonishing and captivating movie, in spite of its length; admittedly not to everyone's taste."

 

Woyzeck (1979)

 

Franz Woyzeck is a hapless, hopeless soldier, alone and powerless in society, assaulted from all sides by forces he can not control.

From memory: Werner Herzog's adaptation of Georg Büchner's classic play was filmed an d cut in 18 days, and the quick-shot production does show in the minimalist settings, but Klaus Kinski's intense, over-heated performance remains quite memorable.

Halliwell**: "Deft, swift tragedy of a fragmented play, with a powerful performance from Kinski as a man trying to exist in a world he cannot comprehend."

Maltin**1/2: "Minor Herzog..."

 

 

 

What Dreams May Come (1998)

 

Chris Neilson finds himself in Heaven after his death. However, when his inconsolable wife commits suicide and goes to Hell, he decides to risk his eternal soul to search for her spirit.

Basically a big sobby tearjerker, this movie presents some fascinating and spectacular, and at times cheesy, depictions of heaven and hell, albeit with a lot of half-baked theology.

Halliwell (no star): "Hollywood's brand of warm, huggy theology gets ever stranger: heaven here is a gooey oil painting, psychobabble is the angelic language, there's no deity in view, and the occupants can't wait to leave the place and get back to Earth. The mind boggles."

Maltin BOMB: "Off-putting gobbledygook...Despite its pedigree (a novel by Richard Matheson, a good director and cast), this film fails to evoke any tangible emotions. It just doesn't work. Its elaborate (in fact, overelaborate) special effects won an Oscar." 

New acquisition: Fitzcarraldo (1982)

 

The White Diamond (2004)

 

 

About the daring adventure of exploring rain forest canopy with a novel flying device-the Jungle Airship.

A true "Werner Herzog joint" accompanies a madcap aeronautical engineer pursuing his dream of a flying with a teardrop-formed balloon, but also adds amazing insights along the way.

Salt and Fire (2016)

 

 

A scientist blames the head of a large company for an ecological disaster in South America. But when a volcano begins to show signs of erupting, they must unite to avoid a disaster. 

 

Despite an interesting cast (including physicist Lawrence Krauss!) and admittedly great landscape cinematography this Werner Herzog adventure disappoints with lame performances and a pretentious, uninspired plot with a failed message. 

Chambre 666 (1982)

 

 

During the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, German director Wim Wenders asks fifteen other famous directors to give their views on the future of cinema.

 

Curious short documentary with an interesting idea is fascinating for its array of important directors and their views, but is generally, due to the temporal nature of the query, outdated. 

Family Romance, LLC (2019)

 

 

A man is hired to impersonate the missing father of a young girl. 

 

With a topic as if created for Werner Herzog, this (fictional) story is slyly presented in his unmistakable documentary style with lots of amazing and surprising moments.

Into the Inferno (2016)

An exploration of active volcanoes around the world.

Another Werner Herzog exploration of volcanoes with his usual fascinatingly quirky and idiosyncratic approach, complete with some breathtaking cinematography.

Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979)

Count Dracula moves from Transylvania to Wismar, spreading the Black Plague across the land, and only a woman pure of heart can bring an end to his reign of horror.

From memory: Typical for Werner Herzog, this adaptation of the vampire tale is visually more than stunning and is darkly atmospheric, but slow-paced and a bit boring; Kinski, Adjani and Ganz are perfectly cast in their respective roles.

Halliwell*: "Despite the star's splendidly loathsome appearance, the overall is no improvement, and the colour in the English prints is quite dreadful."

Maltin***1/2: "Spooky, funny, reverent remake of F. W. Murnau's vampire masterpiece should please Dracula fans of all persuasions. Kinski is magnificent as the good Count, and Adjani's classic beauty is utilized to the hilt."