Werner Herzog On His Latest ‘Encounters,’ Roger Ebert and Love

Photo credit: Discovery Films

When Werner Herzog is onto something, his films are transcendent- and that’s not a word that I am typically comfortable using to describe films. The director (and writer, producer, actor) has recently given the world ‘Grizzly Man’ and ‘The White Diamond’- documentaries that are defiant, brave and driven by Herzog’s precision of insight (he often provides narration on his films). But let’s be fair- Herzog is an artist (though he refuses that title), and artists make experiments. Sometimes those end up like his pseudo-documentary ‘The Wild Blue Yonder’ which was an unendurable affair. Hit or miss, Werner Herzog is earnest brilliance.

His latest documentary is ‘Encounters at the End of the World,’ which was shot on location in Antarctica (Herzog is the only feature-film director who has shot films on all seven continents). ’Encounters’ follows the lives of 1,000 full-time residents while photographing the alien landscape of Antarctica. In a recent interview, he expanded on his choice to dedicate the film to critic Roger Ebert, and also talked about the experience of filming in that desolate place. His words make me smile.

On his film’s narration, analysis and love:

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

On dedicating ‘Encounters’ to film critic Roger Ebert:

Q: 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]

Q: Which, of course, he did already.

WH: No, he didn’t write a review. He wrote a letter to me.

Q: 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.

Herzog was shot by a pellet gun during an interview about the controversial film ‘Grizzly Man.’ Check out his nonchalant reaction as well as the reaction of the reporter:

I love his quote that ends the segment:

“The poet must not avert his eyes. You have to take a bold look at what is environment; what is around you. Even the ugly things. Even the decadent things.”

You can check out the official website for ‘Encounters at the End of the World’ here. Beyond that-  look into ‘Grizzly Man’ and ‘The White Diamond.’ Thanks to Netflix, my wife and I are working our way through his entire library of films. I hope you will too.

“Modern documentaries are as close to the truth as glaciers to farting.”-Werner Herzog