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Capone Talks ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD and BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS with the Great Werner Herzog!
Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here just chillin' with one of my all-time favorite filmmakers, Werner Herzog, one of those rare directors who has made as much of a name for himself as a documentarian as he has for his features. Hell, in recent years, Herzog seems to have even stepped up his acting duties as well in such films as INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS; JULIEN DONKEY-BOY; THE GRAND; and MISTER LONELY. He directed one of the greatest films that was released last year, RESCUE DAWN, and has repeatedly impressed the world with films liked AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD; FITZCARRALDO; WOYZECK; KASPER HAUSER; and his stark, cold, and ultra-creepy remake of NOSFERATU, many of these starring his frequent creative partner and leading man Klaus Kinski.
Kinski was the subject of one of Herzog's greatest documentaries, MY BEST FIEND, and he has consistently continued to make his own unique brand of what he likes to call "non-fiction" films, including GRIZZLY MAN; LITTLE DIETER NEEDS TO FLY; THE WHITE DIAMOND; and the his latest, ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD. It is because of this remarkable work that he and I are talking. The movie chronicles Herzog's trip to the South Pole and examines the people and creatures that live down there year round. As he does with all of his docs, Herzog allows his unique and critical voice to stand as narration for the film, adding a great deal of humor and pathos to the film. Think of it as his anti-MARCH OF THE PENGUINS. We talk about his career to this point, as well as two upcoming projects, one of which has already gotten much negative press and reaction: BAD LIEUTENANT (which now has the added subtitle PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS, according to imdb). I found Herzog to be ready and will to poke fun at his reputation while still offering up some sincere responses. The man is quite simply a living legend and one of my filmmaking heroes, and it was an honor to talk to him. He was in the midst of a busy press day, but I managed to steal away 12 minutes of his time. Ladies and gents: Werner Herzog.
Werner Herzog: This is Werner Herzog, hello.
Capone: Hello. Hello, Werner. How are you?
Werner Herzog: Hello. Good, yes.
Capone: Did I hear someone say just before you got on the phone that I am your the last one of the day?
Werner Herzog: No, no, it goes on endless. But, there will be a Q&A at a film center a little bit out of town. …No, it’s quite okay. I don’t complain.
Capone: Well, I spent part of the past weekend with a friend of yours, Harmony Korine, and he asked me to say ‘Hello’ to you.
WH: Ah, thank you, yes.
Capone: We did a Q&A as well at a screening of his film, which you are very good in, by the way. On that subject, I wanted to ask you…You’ve been in a couple of Harmony’s films, and I saw you in THE GRAND earlier this year. What do you get out of acting? Why do you do it?
WH: Well, there’s a simple answer: I love everything that has to do with cinema--writing screenplays, editing, directing, producing, working on the music, acting. But, of course, acting, I’m only good if I have to play someone who is debased and dysfunctional and hostile [laughs].
Capone: [Laughs] Well, you do that very well, even when you’re not acting, I guess.
WH: [laughs] No, that’s not correct, because just talk to my wife. She swears to God that I’m the fluffiest husband on God’s wide earth.
Capone: Okay. Does it concern you, as you appear more in your nonfiction films and step up your acting roles, that a whole generation of younger admirers unfamiliar with your earlier work see you more as someone they see in front of the camera than behind it.
WH: Yeah, but it’s not like that bad. Besides, I hardly appear in my own films. Like in GRIZZLY MAN, I appear for 30 seconds, and you only see me from behind. And, in the Antarctic film [ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD], I do not appear at all. However, you hear my voice, I speak my own commentaries. So, that is a mistake people make: they think I’m in my own films. Yes, I’m there--with my voice.
It’s very strange, because I get a lot of mail these days, and much of the mail comes from young kids who are 15. They have questions about HEART OF GLASS or about AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD, a film that I made in 1971, 1972. So, it’s not that my earlier films have disappeared behind some recent stuff.
Capone: Oh, no, I was not implying that at all, actually. In fact, with Harmony, we were definitely talking about your older films in the group that we were with. With your nonfiction films, was there a point when you decided that having that running commentary in your voice, whether you were in the film or not, was the best way to handle the subjects that you were tackling? Not just showing them without commentary or narration, but providing a sort of analytical perspective?
WH: Well, it came very naturally. I don’t know how I started to do it, but it’s a fact now, and I enjoy it. I write good commentaries, and I speak them well.
Capone: Yes, you do. That’s true. And, you go beyond just the facts to provide a great deal of analysis into how what we’re seeing is a reflection of the human condition or someone’s struggle against or to work with nature. That seems to be something that’s coming up a lot recently.
WH: Yes, but you should be careful with the term ‘analysis’. I’m not a very analytical person. For example, in ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD, it is much more significant with what amount of humor I’m seeing events down there and the kind of warmth.
There’s one significant moment early in the film where a man who drives a Caterpillar, who actually studied philosophy. And, he speaks very beautifully about his childhood and how he became curious because his grandmother had read The Odyssey and the Argonauts to him, and he says one thing that struck me really deeply. He says, “I fell in love with the world.” And, I thought, my goodness, yes, that’s all what I have done all my life, the films, because I’ve been around a lot in many countries. It’s because I fell in love with the world, and somehow, this Antarctic film, ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD, is exactly that.
And, it’s not so much analytical, you see. When you are loving a woman, you are not analytical with her. You just love her, period. And, it reflects a mood that I’ve had in quite many films before.
Capone: Do you find that people now are coming to you with ideas for new adventures for you to go on?
WH: No, not really. There are exceptions, like BAD LIEUTENANT, which is a completely new story. But, I was approached. There are some times, rare cases, yes, I do that once in a while. But, normally, I write my own screenplays and I develop my own stories.
Capone: Since you brought up BAD LIEUTENANT, I wanted to ask you a little about THE BAD LIEUTENANT remake…
WH: It’s not a remake.
Capone: I’m sorry. This film that you’re doing under the name BAD LIEUTENANT. [Director] Abel Ferrera has already cursed it, thinking it is a remake of some sort…
WH: Yah, well, that’s why he’s…I mean, it’s all theater thunder. [laughs] Let him rave and rant. It’s not a remake. It’s like, you cannot say the last James Bond is a remake of the previous one. So, it only has a bad cop as the leading character, and that’s about it. So let him rave and rant. Beautiful. Maybe…I don’t know how he looks like today, but maybe he could play a drug dealer in the film or something [laughs].
Capone: So, can you tell what is different about the approach to the material?
WH: I haven’t seen the first BAD LIEUTENANT, so I have no idea what his approach was.
Capone: Okay. And, I assume you’re going to leave it that way, for a while at least.
WH: Yes. It’s wonderful that before we even start anything, we have this beautiful accompanying music and thunder.
Capone: No such thing as bad publicity, I guess.
WH: No, it’s not publicity, but let’s face it, it makes my profession a funny one.
Capone: Why did you dedicate the new film to Roger Ebert?
WH: Because he’s such a wonderful soldier of cinema, and, you know, he’s so deeply afflicted with illness, and he’s struggling and cannot speak anymore, and he’s still watching movies, still writing about movies. It’s just wonderful. And, he has been very good to me, a very great, encouraging person for me throughout my career as a filmmaker.
So, and I said to him, "Roger, this is coming at you. I’m going to dedicate the film to you. And, you know what, because it’s dedicated to you, you cannot write or review any more about it." [laughs]
Capone: Which, of course, he did already.
WH: No, he didn’t write a review. He wrote a letter to me.
Capone: Okay, that’s what it was. I’ve seen that.
WH: Yes, he wrote this letter, and it was only for me. And, I didn’t tell anyone. But, Roger chose to publish this letter three months later. On the Internet, you can find it on his web site. He was really talking very kindly about ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD and about my films in general. I love him. I truly love the man. He’s such a…there are hardly any great, good soldiers of cinema left. He’s one.
Capone: Yeah, I see him pretty regularly, because I’m also in Chicago.
WH: Ah, give him all my best!
Capone: I will, I will, yes… I spoke to both Christian Bale and Steve Zahn when they were touring for RESCUE DAWN, and they certainly talked about your shooting style being very loose, allowing you to capture more spontaneous, less scripted event. Do you do the same thing with the nonfiction films as well?
WH: Sure. I always allow real life to enter into the films, so that is…
Capone: …that’s helpful in a documentary, yeah.
WH: [laughs] Yeah, yeah, of course. And, when you look at ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD, there’s vibrant life of real people in there.
Capone: If I believe your narration to the film, you were looking to make the anti-MARCH OF THE PENGUINS. What’s wrong with MARCH OF THE PENGUINS?
WH: Everything [laughs]. I hope my film is better.
Capone: You were still unable to escape their lure in the film. There are shots of mad penguins, suicidal penguins.
WH: Yes, yes. But, it is not that I wanted to make an anti-MARCH OF THE PENGUINS film. I was just fascinated by the idea that there might be something like insanity among animals, or derangement. Is there such a thing as a deranged penguin? [Laughs] Of course, there’s a lot of humor, but the sequence with the penguin that marches off into the interior of the continent is kind of tragic as well.
Capone: It’s depressing. I’m glad you said it was supposed to be humorous, because when you asked that question, I laughed so hard. And, I wasn’t sure that was what you intended.
WH: No, audiences laugh a lot. It’s legitimate. [When] audiences laugh, it’s never wrong.
Capone: You mentioned earlier about young people writing you. There have been a couple of films lately that were inspired by your Munich to Paris walk. What do you make of these journeys by young people that your film inspired?
WH: It’s okay. I just try not to create clones of myself, so I’m cautious.
And I'm afraid I have to leave, they are waiving wildly. Apparently there's a car waiting for me to go to a television studio.
Capone: Well, thank you for taking the time to talk to us, Werner.
WH: Okay. Bye bye.
Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
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Let the hate begin.
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...Capone I am sure the interview was great, but it kinda reads like you kept pissing him off or irritating him. I know and you know he is just being pedantic 9 times out of 10, but still humourous.
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HUH? what? And you are making a sequel? HUH? what? how? goofy.
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...Bad Lieutenant isn't in need of a remake or reimagining but the fact it is being done by someone so narcissistic that he feels like he doesn't even need to watch the original, is just an insult. Werner is always hit and miss. He tackles some interesting topics, but he feels so removed from reality that you can't help but wonder how he gets his shit made. An auteur no doubt, but sometimes the ego supercedes quality.
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I was pretty surprised how cool he seem to be. One might think that these arthouse directors don't have any humor.
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I got none for Werner.
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I sure don't hate Werner. I just think he is a little pretentious sometimes which can be irritating. In the scope of Hollywood, I would say he's more of the norm than the exception. However, I don't have any irrational hard on for any one director either to say that I have to appreciate all their films or even like him as a person.
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hope you're not serious.
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I can see what you were talking about when you said he was a bit distracted getting ready to leave. Still a good interview under the circumstances.
I bought the Herzog/Kinski box set, but have yet to bust in the films, good stuff awaits i'm sure. -
Madness
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Harmony Korin and while I was blowing smoke up his ass, he asked me to say hello. I said "sure" I'll be blowing smoke up your ass next week, and I might use this situation to look cool in front of my readers. Can I blow you Mr. Hertzog?
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starring Nicolas Cage.
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but fuck his remake-reboot-reimagination (who greenlit this? Marvel Studios?). And fuck his half-baked film critics friends who single-handedly made the Pullitzer irrelevant. Fuck it sideways with a rusty fork.
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Herzog bashing in the talkbacks. Holy shit. 1998's AICN wouldn't even speak to the 2008 version of itself, were they to cross paths at some hypothetical party where websites are people and the laws of time-space do not apply. 1998's website would kill itself to prevent the present incarnation from ever happening. Fucking pathetic.
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To be shown in a double feature with Sylvester Stallone's "Death Wish: This Title Makes More Money Than A New One Would".
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...it's not worth watching. And vice-versa, I suppose. The way they fueled each other's fires was unreal.
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I kind of got the impression that this shouldn't be considered a remake, though I don't know enough about the original source material to really understand what his reasoning is for making or calling the movie what it is. Oh well, I think Werner should make a reconstruction-style documentary about prehistoric humanity ...oh wait, thats been done. 10,000 B.C! Man, that movie almost made me regret becoming an archaeologist (yet somehow Indy 4 didn't)
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What a legend.
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That would be a great title.
If you want to see just how calm a customer Herzog is, look up the video interview where he's in LA, gets shot in the gut, and just shrugs it off. -
the main character pulls out his penis and does a crackhead dance around the room screaming "WHERE WERE YOU?! WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU?!!"
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That is all. One of the last true visionaries in cinema, and humble as hell too. He was nice enough to hang out after a special talk and screening at a film festival a couple of years back, and he stayed to take pictures with and speak to every single person who wanted to talk to him. If Herzog dies this year as well, I will run off into the vast unknown like the insane penguin in his new film.
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It'll have Jesus show up during a drug fueled hallucination... at a circus. And, he'll get capped riding the bumper boats.
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And people are complaining about the T4 subtitle?
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Here we go....
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Werner can do no wrong, if he was to copromise his vision...he'd a done it many a year ago.
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Ok, Gone went on sale today. Yes, that Gone. So I thought I'd give my two cents online by writing a review on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles. Lo and behold, I get a nasty e-mail from Michael Grant accusing me of being a "cyber-stalker" because I posted negative reviews on two sites. In fact, the guy (and his wife!) posted two reviews on Amazon to push Gone's rating up after I gave it one star. The guy is really starting to irritate me. He can't take criticism. Just go to Amazon and read his "view" on why I didn't like his book. God! In fact, go over there and everyone give that damn book one star. The guy needs to learn to accept criticism.
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any chance you guys will step into modern times and provide a podcast, or some type of audio content?
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"If it's Herzog without Kinski......it's not worth watching." Stroszek, Kaspar Hauser, Lessons of Darkness, Fata Morgana, Even Dwarves Started Small, Grizzly Man, Little Dieter Needs To Fly, Rescue Dawn, La Soufriere, The Great Ecstacy of Woodcarver Steiner, Heart of Glass and a bunch of other great films disagree with you there pal.
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Re:Gone
http://tinyurl.com/6znnd9 -
That's awesome.Hey everyone, if you haven't seen it yet - Invincible from '02, '03? Marvelous.
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Any man who can get shot with an air-rifle during an interview and just say "oh we're getting shot at, we must go" is a legend. It's great to see he's in love with the world, it's a lovely thing to be able to say in times when so many people seem to do nothing but hate.
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Didn't like any of them much at all, apart from Grizzly Man, and Little Dieter... and I suppose Rescue Dawn was alright, but just kinda felt like him retreading stuff he'd done far better before. None of them can hold a candle to Fitzcarraldo, Cobra Verde or Aguirre.
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I agree that Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre are his best films, but I'd put half of the ones I just listed above Cobra Verde (which is still great) and all of them above Woyzeck (which is also still great.) Have you seen all of the ones I listed? Stroszek is probably my third favorite Herzog film overall, and I've seen over forty of his films... He does have a lot that or average or not that great, but most are at least watchable with scattered moments of brilliance.. A couple of his films are interminable, but mostly because he's just pointing a static camera at something I don't much care for (Huey's Sermon, Jag Mandir, God's Angry Man, off the top of my head). Anyway, to each their own I guess, but I don't like when people dismiss his non-Kinski stuff. He's a visionary, my favorite filmmaker overall (sorry, Kubrick) and one of the last truly unique voices in the medium.
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Jun 24, 2008 5:48:58 PM CDT
"Death Wish: This Title Makes More Money Than A New One Would".
by iamlegolas
This pretty much sums up the movie business these days.
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He asked them to take it down because of that T-Rex with broadsword image I whipped up. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. He knew that no one would want to buy his version of the book if they knew there was one that had a T-Rex with a broadsword.
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thanks for makin my day L.W.
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I just can't stand his movies. Fitzcarraldo is a pretentious piece of shit.
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Jun 24, 2008 6:58:37 PM CDT
I just E-peed my pantaloons.
by bride of mecha-bill pullman vs. mecha-bi
T-Rex with a broadsword. Genius.
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Damn You MCMLXXVI
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I dont know if the other Liutnant film was good or bad; remake or re-imagining takes on a whole different meaning when handled by such a true artist as Herzog. The concept of somebody like him handling something like a dirty cop story, possibly noirish, with probable brutal action scenes, set in a urban environment, is truly a gift.
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Guy is an absolute douchebag scum sucking cunt. Honestly, I don't think I've ever met a more worthless human being in my life. The kind of guy who isn't just difficult and unpleasant to be difficult, but who is as difficult and unpleasant as he can possibly be as if it's some kind of sport. He's made some interesting films, and a couple of very good ones (perhaps even bordering on great), but the man himself is like a walking bubonic plague. I'll take Herzog any day,both as a better film maker and a far better person.
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I love the fact he hasn't even seen Bad Lieutenant and he's treating it like its the second part of a series. It makes no sense and might make for an bad film, but still a fascinating one.
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Thanks for the support guys. I would have simply let this entire incident go if Michael Grant hadn't written me a threatening e-mail. He knows I'm a struggling writer and he claims that "the publishing world is paying attention" to my bashing of his book. Don't fucking threaten me, you no talent hack who needs his wife to defend his work (Michael Reynolds).
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Fucking hate that Disneyfied shit.
Suicidal, deranged penguins is the GENIUS thing....
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And I really like the original, but c'mon. Herzog is in a completely different weight class than Ferrara as directors go... when Herzog sneezes, the goo on his handkerchief is a masterpiece. There's no point in naysaying a Herzog film, even one in the making... if he chose to do it, you know it'll be awesome.
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Jun 24, 2008 11:50:59 PM CDT
Also, how cool is it that he hasn't even seen the original?
by librerarian
That's awesome... he has the chops of Orson Welles.
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Herzog is the German word for the aristocratic title Duke.
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And by the way, Herzog's Nosferatu is the creepiest vampire film ever made. Not a perfect film, but one of my personal favorites. Isabelle Adjani! Beautiful!
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serves the best (BEST) burger you will ever eat, made with beef they age themselves. They also pour their drinks in 10-inch plastic cups, and the bartenders pour 'em until they get bored. Anyone who ever gets a chance oughtta hoof it down to the Big Easy and head to Port of Call.
Wait, we're talking about movies? What the fuck? -
So he didn't like the fan fiction?
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never read it, but from what I gather it's some lame Cement Garden rip off for pre-teens? Fuck him. Go and read The Cement Garden. And how sad is it to have 4 reviews 3 of which are by you, your wife and an illiterate?
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I agree, this could put Cage's career back on track after...well, the last 15 years or so of doing shite like the Wicker Man remake. And Literarywanderer, I tip my hat to you!
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But people love to fucking but his balls in their mouth. Though not as bad as David Lynch, well because Herzog is a lot better then Lynch. And Herzog doesn't come off as a I'm better faster stronger smarter then you like Lynch does. Though they both have the same interview style, just Herzog has a more normal sense of humor. Whenever I see either of them get interviewed they go on and on about this random ass story, its interesting but its like?? What the fuck were we talking about. Check out Lynch talking about Eraserhead on the DVD where he goes on about how good of a driver this one guy was. I really need to get around and see more of Herzogs flicks.
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I'm sorry, but after reading Herzog's response, it seems like they're just calling it BAD LIEUTENANT because, well, who's gonna stop them? It read like he just couldn't give a shit. If the film isn't a remake or a sequel – why is it naming itself after a classic film which has already claimed that title? I also didn’t appreciate his humorous approach to all the furor over the title. Maybe people are getting upset because he’s just using another film’s title to get people into the cinema? This is retarded.
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Oh c'mon - love the site - love Harry's passion - but this site was as corrupt then as it is now. That was the year of "Armageddon" and "pwesents" and Joe Hallenprisonbitch ... err ... Joe Hallenbeck.
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Remember seeing him at some premiere in NYC - coked-out porno girl at his side - a friend who worked that night talked about how profane and abusive he was - think lowlife and you have Mr Ferrara.
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I've said it before, but having the subtitle and his take on this project further confirms my suspicion that "Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans" is an elaborate joke that Herzog is playing on the producers, specifically, and American audiences, in general. Sure, maybe he just wants to do another intense character study of a depraved lunatic's tailspin into self-destruction. But, c'mon, Bad Lieutenant, a series "like James Bond?" "Port of Call New Orleans?" Personally, I'm hoping for a hideous and gloriously camp send-up of the Hollywood cop movie. If so, I can't think of anyone better for this than Nick Cage. After this they can do "Wicker Man: Miami Beach."
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Any way, ricarleite, a Herzog-directed Kinski biopic sounds like mad genius, but who would play Klaus? Not Tom Cruise.
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