Review - Grizzly Man (2005 - Dir. Werner Herzog)

On evlkeith's advice I'm tasting the work of obscurendure legend Werner Herzog for the first time. Well actually it's the second time, because I watched Grizzly Man a few years ago, but took very little notice other than to arrive at the view that the main protagonist of the film deserved to get eaten by the bears. (Perhaps a tad harsh - evlkeith). I decided to revisit the documentary, armed with my new understanding and appreciation of the master director.

Maybe I was a little harsh the first time around. The documentary focuses on the life of the late Timothy Treadwell; an eco-warrior with a love of North America's bear population. Treadwell felt such affinity with these animals that he spent his Summers living in the wild with bears, often naming, petting, cuddling and treating them like his buddies. I'm sure I'm not giving much away by informing you that Treadwell was ultimately killed and eaten by a rogue grizzly. The only surprise is that he survived thirteen Summers in the wild.

The film is interesting in its portrayal of the contrasting sides of Timothy's life. On the one hand Treadwell is a naive, childlike enthusiast and protector of the bears, while on the other he is an irritating, deluded self-publicist with a limited understanding of the environment he has entered. As a film maker he produces some amazing shots and sequences of bears hunting, fighting and his 'friend' the fox's life and interactions, but ultimately spoils them with his own self-important ranting.

The second star of the film is undoubtedly Werner Herzog, who provides an emotional and heartfelt commentary to proceedings. He appears genuinely upset on hearing the tape of Treadwell's ultimate demise and showed his respect for his subject throughout, while still presenting the alternative views of professional environmentalists. It's not a classic by any means, but it's an interesting and emotive little journey with some beautiful imagery.

5/10

Doccortex

If you like this you could also try:
Into the Abyss, Encounters at the End of the World, The White Diamond.

Review - Into the Abyss (2011- Dir. Werner Herzog)

Prologue

This is not the Werner I'm used to. This is more like his other more recent work, such as Grizzly Man. And, to be honest, (normally I'm a right liar) it's a lot better than his earlier animal bothering offerings.

1. The crime.

Werner follows an inmate on death row and interviews people involved in the crime, family members and officials who deal with the whole process of death. Michael Perry was convicted of murdering a mother and was suspected of killing two teenagers. The intent was to steal a car. As the Sheriff states in the film, three people died over a red Camaro and the perpetrators were only in possession of it for about forty-eight hours.


2. Interview style.

Rather than employing someone else to interview the people involved, Werner dives straight in there and gets his hands dirty. He loves getting to the nitty-gritty of what happened and how they feel about it. At one point he even makes a joke about Perry's accomplice, Jason Burkett, who had a piece of shrapnel lodged in his side. He doesn't see the funny side. Werner does. And has a little chuckle.


3. Most preposterous story.

One of the people interviewed - I'm not really sure who he was - told a story of having a fight with someone and there being an incident involving a foot long screwdriver. This injury would have surely caused death within minutes. The bloke didn't even bother going to the hospital. A tale worthy of Ken McKenzie.

This clip has nothing whatsoever to do with the film. Great song though.

4. The death penalty.

Werner wastes no time in saying that he doesn't agree with the death penalty. He ascertains from one of the victim's daughters that she felt that justice would be carried out with life imprisonment. Possibly Werner's ace in the hole is his interview with one of the men responsible for looking after the inmates in their final hours, strapping them down and administering the fatal injections. I won't give details, but whilst watching I thought that if I was going to be executed I wouldn't mind this friendly fellow doing it. (Well, maybe I would. But you know what I mean.)


5. Hard lives.

One of the most amazing things about hearing about these people's live is how unlucky they are. Some of the interviewees have lost all or virtually all of their families under various circumstances. Either that or they're all in prison. It must be a nightmare getting life insurance in Conroe, Texas.


6. Enjoyable?

This is a good, well-made film but not one that I would want to watch again. I was constantly interested and at times amazed by some of the goings on. Definitely worth watching once. Recommended.


Epilogue

On the walk back to the car park after seeing this, Doccortex and I were egged. Well, someone tried to. I felt something brush my stomach. The Doc felt something brush his leg. Then we saw the egg explode on the pavement. A dubious looking car sped past. How lucky was that? (We were not so lucky in Peasholm Park, when a goose decide to lighten its load on us, but that's another story.) I'm hoping that my luck holds out for the lottery tonight. I wonder whether Werner would agree with the death penalty for egg throwers...


7/10
evlkeith


If you like this you could also try:
Grizzly Man, Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

Review - Fitzcarraldo (1982 - Dir. Werner Herzog)

At the minute I'm trying to get into into natural yoghurt. It's fairly rank and not to my taste, but strangely, I find myself looking forward to it with my breakfast. Werner films are a bit like this.

The original tale of Fitzcarraldo is about a bloke who pulls a small boat, a dinghy perhaps, over a small isthmus to get to a nearby river. Werner, in a fit of ego to rival Big Jim Cameron, decides to get his Fitzcarraldo to lug a huge steam boat over a blooming great hill/mountain.


Klaus Kinski plays the title role and is completely bonkers. His sticky-up blond hair doesn't do him any favours in the 'looking vaguely normal' stakes. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be a comedy but I found myself chortling away at numerous points. The portrait of Fitzy and his brothel owning lady friend is a highlight.

As with all of Werner's output, don't expect anything too pacy. In fact, expect something really slow. Even then you may be disappointed by its ability to drag. As usual. You are rewarded with some gorgeous sights. The steam boat at a forty degree angle, wreathed in mist with the mad-looking Kinski in the foreground is worth the admission price alone.

The final heartwarming shots (well, as heartwarming as Werner gets) show that even though Fitzy isn't overly concerned about who gets injured/crushed to death by a steam boat, his heart is in the right opera-loving place.

Supposedly Kinski's behaviour was so crazed during the making of the film the native extras wanted to kill him. Amazingly Werner talked them out of it. So the rumour goes anyway. I'm surprised Werner didn't let them and film the ensuing murder in his trademark documentary style. Possibly he thought it would have been a tad too exciting for one of his films.
4/10
evlkeith



If you like this you could also try:
Any Werner film.

Review - Heart Of Glass (1976 - Dir. Werner Herzog)

A Bavarian village is in big trouble because the foreman who knew how to make the renowned ruby glass has died, taking the secret with him. The master of the village, understandably, starts to go insane and turns into a pyromaniac and a murderer. A seer from the hills making predictions, in the style of Nostradamus, is thrown into the mix. Then everything goes a bit pear-shaped. 

Here is a typical scene: a man dances with a dead villager, accompanied by a fellow with a hurdy gurdy. In the foreground sits a man cackling away, encouraging the surreal dance, while a woman holding a duck stares gormlessly into space. Welcome to Heart Of Glass.

Most of the actors were hypnotised for their scenes. You can't accuse Herzog of playing it safe and it does create a strange dream-like atmosphere. The only people who weren't in a trance were the glass blowers going about their work. Glass blowing with stunningly hot molten glass and hypnotism do not make good bedfellows. Obviously, they were allowed to drink plenty of beer to keep them cool. Also the seer Hias (Josef Bierbichler) was unhypnotised. He just acts like he is, staring into the far distance as if he's seeing the future. He is a strong presence and you look forward to his scenes.

There are some gorgeous landscape shots within Heart of Glass, the initial scene with Hias and some cows in the mist is a highlight. Herzog lingers on these shots long enough for you to appreciate them. 

The commentary is very entertaining. You learn about Herzog's childhood in Bavaria and there are quite a few amusing anecdotes about the making of the film. Herzog actually did the hypnotising himself. Brave cast. He endears himself to me though, by not having a clue why he did certain things, the end sequence for instance, where he tells a completely separate story. He just admits that he can't explain it. Top bloke. 

I've actually managed to make it sound more exciting than it is. Slow pacing and some inscrutable dialogue make for quite an endurance test. The pacing is not a problem in itself - I like Jean Rollin films, where the slowness is part of the charm - but the main issue is that not much happens. I think that Herzog films, much like Rollin's, are an acquired taste. Worryingly, they are starting to grow on me.

3/10

evlkeith

 

If you like this you could also try:

Even Dwarfs Started Small, Fata Morgana, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, Inland Empire.

Review - Fata Morgana (1971 - Dir. Werner Herzog)

Well, where do you start on this one? The title means 'mirage' and the whole film is very dreamlike with no narrative structure. It sets out its stall in the opening four minutes. Four minutes of watching a plane land. And then land again. And again. All from the same viewpoint. 



Filmed in Africa, you get plenty of desert shots for your money. Stick a camera to the top of your van, point it at the desert and drive. That seems to have been the general thinking behind most of the shots. There are some trademark Herzog documentary style parts to add a little bit of spice to the mix. The director has envisaged it as an alien film crew coming to a desolate planning and filming deserts. Before you watch it, there is no alien film crew. Not even alien film crew voices. What you do get is some narration from the Mayan creation myth, Popol Vuh.

I can see this being half decent if you were in a dark cinema at two o'clock in the morning and you'd had a few Tizers. You could fall asleep and dream of desiccated cow corpses. That being said, there are some gorgeous shots within the film. Mainly of deserts, granted, but still beautiful. Also there is a brilliant club singer who has the dodgiest sound system going.

Werner Herzog should be the Patron Saint of obscurendure. Yet again he has come up with an obscurity that is truly a test of endurance. Clocking in at under eighty minutes you'd think you would have no problems. See how you get on watching just ten minutes on the clip below. Strangely, I vaguely enjoyed it. It's very hard to recommend to anyone though. If you enjoy the clip bump up the review score to five.
3/10
evlkeith




If you like this you could also try:
Anything by David Lynch, Even Dwarfs Started Small, Gummo.

Be honest, how long did you last?

Review - Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970 - Dir. Werner Herzog )

Friends bought this for me at Christmas as part of a Werner Herzog box set. I am now slightly concerned about what kind of a guy they think I am. 

An incredibly funny film at times but also very difficult to watch, or recommend, due to some scenes of animal cruelty. 

This German film is about a community of dwarfs who gradually get more and more out of control, resulting in food fights, burning flowers and tormenting two blind dwarfs. The funniest part is them attacking a car with plates, food and a typewriter. Whilst one character, Hombre, giggles. Constantly. 


The director intended the film to show the violence and chaos that is hidden in society. The film does succeed on this level but does this really warrant scenes of chicken throwing? Worryingly though, this is a perfect film for this blog. Obscure and a real test of endurance.

4/10
evlkeith
         

                                                                                                       

If you like this (yeah, right) you could also try:

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, Eraserhead, Fata Morgana, Heart Of Glass.