Werner Herzog. My Primer
The Bavarian is a world-renowned filmmaker, writer, and actor. I must admit, however, I didn’t know of his cultural influence. My interest was piqued by his role in the Mandalorian.
I watched the Mandalorian for that scene alone. See, it’s not that I wish to ignore Herzog’s accomplishments. But the superficial reason for loving his voice—much like why I listen to Neil Gaiman interviews—was the primer to start the dive.
Like the mind can’t think of anything but pink elephants when you tell yourself not to picture a pink elephant, I started hearing Herzog’s name everywhere. From Dan Harmon to Maria Popova I was hearing about Herzog’s genius.
Yet, to me, he was still the man who delivered a great explanation of male culture on Rick & Morty.
I started with one interview, then a few more until I went on a marathon to hear the Bavarian’s tale and philosophy on filmmaking, the arts, and life. To say he’s a fascinating human being would be an understatement. I can’t fit him into an essay, there are a few books that’ll do that for you—I will be reading them too—so I’m going to riff off a few things I’m writing to remember for my own journey.
Herzog spent his childhood hidden in the mountains of Bavaria as his family fled the war. He grew up without a T.V. for most of his youth. I guess you don’t need one to be want to become a filmmaker.
He made his first movie with funds earned while working at a steel factory. I should add he was 18 and worked in the factory while attending high school—very Ron Swanson for you Parks & Rec fans out there.
He loves walking. He walked from Munich to Paris to see his friend who was dying of cancer. He told her to wait for him and don’t die beforehand. It took him three weeks. He got to her in time and she outlived the expected timeline.
Filmmaking is about seeing the world and there is no better way than to walk. His film school requires students find him by traveling on foot—remember that Herzog didn’t attend film school. I heard the interview process requires them to tell him what they saw on the journey there.
"If you really want to understand the real world and also conceptually where we are standing as human beings, travel on foot and read.” - Werner Herzog
His students learn how to forge documents and break the rules for the sake of filming. Herzog himself forged film permits in Peru. A Peruvian military colonel actually accepted Herzog’s forged documents—it had a fake presidential seal and everything.
It’s all part of a system that puts the act of executing above any bureaucratic red tape. Herzog has written screenplays in a matter of weeks. The same can be said for filming and editing. His matter-of-fact attitude to how simple it all is makes me understand it’s just that he’s fast but everyone else is taking much longer.
He rarely watches T.V. or movies. Film is how he captures humanity to show truth to the audience. That doesn’t mean he needs to be watching T.V. all day. He reads a ton though.
"It isn't about reading ten books but reading two thousand.” - Werner Herzog
His movies are real. There is no CG. Him and his team went to an active volcano. They actually carried a ship through the jungle instead of using models. One of the crewmen smashed his hand going down the rapids in the jungle. Some were hit with arrows (one through the throat and a few were hit in the abdomen) by native tribes and emergency surgery was performed in some jungle cabin.
It’s not that he purposely puts people in harm’s way. Rather, it’s a fascinating degree with trust that his film crew continues to partake on journeys with him. Maybe it’s because he is part of each journey. He will walk out to the frozen lake before he tells actors to go out. He ate live maggots before he told Christian Bale to. He earned the trust of North Korean officers to let him keep his film on his word alone.
When Herzog wished to use Bruno S in one of his films some 30 film executives objected. It was everyone except the cinematographer. Herzog told them all to leave because they were taking valuable seats for future financiers of the movie. They didn’t leave. Herzog used Bruno S for his film.
Bruno S. was the actor who played Kaspar Hauser in the movie The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser. He wished to remain anonymous for the role where he was portraying a man who lived trapped in a dungeon for 17 years before being freed into the world.
Bruno himself had spent ~23 of his 26 years trapped in mental asylums after beatings from his mother had left him unable to speak and she threw him into a mental hospital. Naturally, he wasn’t the typical actor film executives wanted to see. But Herzog chose to film people for the truth they could show on screen. When he filmed a movie in a town in the American mid-west (the name escapes me) he used the townspeople in the movie instead of going out to hire actors.
The advice he gives to every aspiring filmmaker, and every human being who wants to do something of value in life, is to read. As he says: read, read, read, read. Start now and never stop.
“It's not the mere reading of certain books that make you a different person. Its the permanence of constantly reading.” - Werner Herzog
"If you really want to become someone of significance, read.” - Werner Herzog
Read and travel by foot. It appears to be a great starting point for most in lading an interesting life.
The interviews I listened to are here, here, here, here, here, here, here. I didn’t care what he was talking about or who interviewed him, except Roger Ebert. I specifically chose the one with Ebert.