Werner Herzog

Let me start by saying that Werner Herzog is one of the most talented filmmakers working today. His career spans over 50 projects. This list is just of ones I particularly enjoyed. I highly recommend checking out anything you can that he has done. Now that that has been said, Herzogs story is too long for this blog. He is hands down one of the most interesting filmmakers I have ever come across. I could go on for days with little stories about him...but rather than do that I will just list a few interesting facts about Werner Herzog:

• Claims to have walked by foot from Munich, Germany to Paris, France (a distance of about 500 miles) in 1974 to prevent the very sick film historian and good friend Lotte Eisner from dying (as, applying his logic, she wouldn't dare to die until he visited her on her deathbed). Eisner indeed went on to live for 8 more years after Herzog's journey.
• Joaquin Phoenix was in a car accident on a winding canyon road that flipped his car over. Shaken and confused, Phoenix heard a tapping on his window and a voice say, "Just relax." Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." Then managed to see that the man was Werner Herzog, and Herzog replied, "No, you're not." After helping Phoenix out of the wreckage, Herzog phoned for an ambulance and vanished.
• In late 2005, during an interview with BBC journalist Mark Kermode regarding Grizzly Man, a sniper opened fire on them with an air rifle. Kermode panicked when Herzog calmly said, "Someone is shooting at us." One of the pellets then hit Herzog. An unmoved Herzog insisted on continuing the interview.

Grizzly Man - 2005
A devastating and heartrending take on grizzly bear activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, who were killed in October of 2003 while living among grizzlies in Alaska.
Trailer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=AKfWippJeHM

The White Diamond - 2004
The White Diamond is a film about the daring adventure of exploring rainforest canopy with a novel flying device-the Jungle Airship. Airship engineer Dr.Graham Dorrington embarks on a trip to the giant Kaieteur Falls in the heart of Guyana, hoping to fly his helium-filled invention above the tree-tops. But this logistic effort will not be without risk. Twelve years ago, a similar expedition into the unique habitat of the canopy ended in disaster when Dorrington's friend Dieter Plage fell to his death. With the expedition is Werner Herzog, setting out now with a new prototype of the airship into the Lost World of the pristine rain forest of this little explored area of the world, to record and tell this unique story in an extraordinary, feature-documentary film
Trailer: I couldnt find a trailer but heres a clip http://youtube.com/watch?v=afWXExlu41g

Wheel Of Time - 2003
Wheel of Time is Werner Herzog's photographed look at the largest Buddhist ritual in Bodh Gaya, India.
Trailer: Couldnt find a trailer, but heres a clip http://youtube.com/watch?v=rkzoMJtk8Qk

Mein Liebster Feind/My Best Fiend: Klaus Kinski - 1999
In the 1950s, when Werner Herzog was 13, he was sharing an apartment with Klaus Kinski, an ego-maniacal live-wire. In an unabated, 48 hour fit of rage, Kinski destroyed every piece of furniture in sight. From this chaos, a beautiful albeit volatile partnership was born. In 1972, Herzog cast Kinski in Aguirre, The Wrath of God. Four more films would follow. In this personal documentary, Herzog traces the often violent up and downs of their relationship, revisiting Munich apartment where they first met - and thrashed, and the various locations of their films.
Trailer: I couldnt find a trailer for this one, but this is the first 3 mins of the movie: http://youtube.com/watch?v=yBDEQe9CjOU

Little Dieter Needs To Fly - 1997
This is one of the greatest documentaries ever made. In 1966, Dieter Dengler was shot down over Laos, captured, and, down to 85 pounds, escaped. Barefoot, surviving monsoons, leeches, and machete-wielding villagers, he was rescued. Now, near 60, living on Mt. Tamalpais, Dengler tells his story: a German lad surviving Allied bombings in World War II, postwar poverty, apprenticed to a smith, beaten regularly. At 18, he emigrates and peels potatoes in the U.S. Air Force. He leaves for California and college, then enlistment in the Navy to learn to fly. A quiet man of sorrows tells his story: war, capture, harrowing conditions, escape, and miraculous rescue. Where did he find the strength; how does he now live with his memories?
Trailer: Couldnt find a trailer, but heres a 10 min clip! http://youtube.com/watch?v=PxaLr_nVf_Y

Lektionen In Finsternis/Lessons Of Darkness - 1992
This film shows the disaster of the Kuwaitian oil fields in flames. In contrast to the common documentary film there are no comments and few interviews. What must have been the hell itself is presented to the viewer in such beautiful sights and beautiful music that one has to be fascinated by it.
Trailer: I couldn't find a trailer for this one, but here is a 4 min. clip (with some bad Radiohead song) that should give you an idea of what this movie is like visually: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9t94heQ2Kyc

Fitzcarraldo - 1982
Kinski plays the title role of an obsessed opera lover who wants to build an opera in the jungle. To accomplish this he first has to make a fortune in the rubber business, and his cunning plan involves hauling an enormous river boat across a small mountain with aid from the local indians. This was done without the use of special effects.
Trailer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=F53yUsgVuL0

Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht/Nosferatu The Vampyre - 1979
Jonathan Harker is sent away to Count Dracula's castle to sell him a house in Virna, where he lives. But Count Dracula is a vampire, an undead ghoule living of men's blood. Inspired by a photograph of Lucy Harker, Jonathan's wife, Dracula moves to Virna, bringing with him death and plague... An unusually contemplative version of Dracula, in which the vampire bears the cross of not being able to get old and die. I am going to go out on a limb here and say this is better than the original.
Trailer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZeYpGsEdEZU

La Soufriere - Warten Auf Eine Unausweichliche Katastrophe/La Soufriere - 1977
I couldnt find very much on this movie, which is understandable considering its a 30 min. documentary, but I felt that it was good enough that I had to include it on this list. It is currently available on DVD (with how much wood would a woodchuck chuck and sculptor steiner). Herzog takes a film crew to the island of Guadeloupe when he hears that the volcano on the island is going to erupt. Everyone has left, except for one old man who refuses to leaves. Herzog catches the eeriness of an abandoned city, with stop lights cycling over an empty intersection.

Stroszek - 1977
In Berlin, an alcoholic man, recently released from prison, joins his elderly friend and a prostitute in a determined dream to leave Germany and seek a better life in Wisconsin
Trailer: http://imdb.com/title/tt0075276/trailers-screenplay-E17884-314

Jeder Fur Sich Und Gott Gegen Alle/The Enigma Of Kapar Hauser - 1974
Herzog's film is based upon the true and mysterious story of Kaspar Hauser, a young man who suddenly appeared in Nuremberg in 1828, barely able to speak or walk, and bearing a strange note; he later explained that he had been held captive in a dungeon of some sort for his entire life that he could remember, and only recently was he released, for reasons unknown.
Trailer: Couldnt find a trailer for this one, but heres a clip that will give you a feel for the movie http://youtube.com/watch?v=fjfGvugxGUg&feature=related

Die Grosse Ekstasse Des Bildschnitzers Steiner/The Great Ecstasy Of Woodcarver Steiner - 1974
A study of the psychology of a champion ski-jumper, whose full-time occupation is carpentry.
Trailer: I couldnt find a trailer, but heres a 10 minute clip! http://youtube.com/watch?v=y7Lk2OR9q-E

Aguirre, Der Zorn Gottes/Aguirre, The Wrath Of God - 1972
A few decades after the destruction of the Inca empire, a Spanish expedition leaves the mountains of Peru and goes down the Amazon river in search of gold and wealth. Soon, they come across great difficulties and Don Aguirres, a ruthless man who cares only about riches, becomes their leader. But will his quest lead them to "the golden city", or to certain destruction?
Trailer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=1A08fxwcsEw

Land Das Schweigens Und Der Dunkelheit/Land Of Silence And Darkness - 1971
Through examining Fini Straubinger, an old woman who has been deaf and blind since her teens, and her work on behalf of other deaf-blind people, this film shows how the deaf-blind struggle to understand and accept a world from which they are almost wholly isolated
Trailer: I could not find a trailer for this one, but I did find a clip that shows "Vladimir, a deaf-blind 22 year old, who was never taught to walk, eat or communicate properly due to his disabilities. As a way of communicating to himself, he blows raspberries and hits himself with a rubber ball." http://youtube.com/watch?v=ye-RlS7dLhU

Auch Zwerge Haben Klein Angefangen/Even Dwarfs Started Small - 1970
The inhabitants of an institution in a remote country rebel against their keepers. Their acts of rebellion are by turns humorous, boring and alarming. An allegory on the problematic nature of fully liberating the human spirit, as both commendable and disturbing elements of our nature come forward. The film shows how justifiable revolt may be empowering, but may also turn to chaos and depravity. The allegory is developed in part by the fact that the film is cast entirely with dwarfs.
Trailer: http://imdb.com/title/tt0065436/trailers-screenplay-E14290-310