I just ordered the Anchor Bay Herzog set last week and can't wait to get into the commentaries. The Herzong/Kinski set I already own is one of the great joys of my dvd collection.

I listened to the Fresh Air interview and it was very good. The regular host of the show, Terry Gross wasn't there which is too bad since she is such a good interviewer. Werner discussed his latest documentary about Timothy Treadwell and his life among Grizzlies. The movie is actually more about the person, his failings and dreams than it is about the bears themselves. Apparently the guy was a real alcoholic and finally found some inner purpose filming the bears and fighting for their rights, etc. The ironic thing was that they were already well protected so the bears were actually his salvation not the other way around. The guy sounds really manic at times. He and his girlfriend area eventually killed and eaten by the bears with his camera and microphone running at the time. Herzog's decision on what to do with this material is very interestings.

The interview continued with the interviewer asking questions about some of his films like Stroszek, Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre. Other topics were documentaries, Mick Jagger, working with Kinksi and dreams. Not a whole lot of new information but still very entertaining to listen too. You can still listen to the interview if you have realplayer or windows media player using the link below.

Fresh Air

i've thought about his voice many times before this thread. He should narrate trailers for movies.

Where the Green Ants Dream.

Joaquin Phoenix Pulled from Car Wreck by Director Werner Herzog

By Chris Lee, Special to the Los Angeles Times

Joaquin Phoenix has plenty of reason to celebrate this week, and not just because he scored a best actor Oscar nomination for "Walk the Line."

Last Thursday, the 31-year-old actor overturned his car on a winding road in Laurel Canyon. And in an only-in-Hollywood twist, German director Werner Herzog was one of the first responders who helped Phoenix out of the wreck.

According to police, the accident occurred about 3 p.m. when Phoenix's brakes gave out. The actor said he was forced to swerve into the mountainside to avoid hitting another car, and the driver's side air bag deployed.

Phoenix said he was thrown into the passenger seat when his vehicle rolled onto its roof. In the aftermath, the actor said he felt "a bit confused."

"I remember this knocking on the passenger window," said Phoenix. "There was this German voice saying, 'Just relax.' There's the air bag, I can't see and I'm saying, 'I'm fine. I am relaxed.'

"Finally, I rolled down the window and this head pops inside. And he said, 'No, you're not.' And suddenly I said to myself, 'That's Werner Herzog!' There's something so calming and beautiful about Werner Herzog's voice. I felt completely fine and safe. I climbed out."

Herzog, 63, the temperamental auteur responsible for such strange but fascinating films as "Fitzcarraldo" and "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" — who won best documentary for 2005's "Grizzly Man" at the Directors Guild Awards on Jan. 28 — has a home near the accident scene.

A publicist for Lionsgate, "Grizzly Man's" DVD distributor, confirmed that Herzog had attended to Phoenix after the accident. The director was unavailable for comment.

"I got out of the car and I said, 'Thank you,' " Phoenix said. "And he was gone."

Police said no charges were filed.

Phoenix recently won a Golden Globe for best actor in a musical or comedy for portraying country legend Johnny Cash. And on Tuesday he was selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a best actor nominee for "Walk the Line."

"Frrraawwrrraarrgh!" said the actor, 31, shortly after the announcement. "That's the sound of me being speechless. I'm looking for something witty and profound to say, but I'm awestruck. I have marbles in my mouth."

"So it's an amazing week."

Mark Kermode interviewed Herzog last night for BBC2's The Culture Show.

In what was a rather bizarre incident, while standing with Kermode on a hill in LA, Herzog appeared to be shot in the gut by someone with an air rifle. The interview continued indoors, whereby after a brief discussion about Grizzly Man, Werner duly unbuttoned his trousers to show the slightly bloody wound to a visibly stunned Kermode, who couldn't believe that Herzog was so relaxed about it.

When the interviewer quizzed him on whether or not he was afraid because of the incident, our hero proclaimed that he was afraid of nothing in this world.

Considering some the stunts Herzog has pulled over the years, it wouldn't surprise me if the whole thing was staged, but if it was, it was very well done. Either way, it was brilliant telly and there's some more on Herzog on BBC4's The Cinema Show tomorrow night.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/listings/i ... ce_id=4544

If anything, I hope Phoenix wins an Oscar and signs on to do whatever Herzog wants to do next. Hopefully this guy can do another massive fiction film again...

He's just finished one, no?

It's based on "Little Dieter Needs to Fly," so it's based on a true story--looking forward to it-- good trailer here: http://www.gibraltarfilms.com/theatre/theatre_rd.html

Has anyone heard anything more about Herzog's bullet wound? If it's true, that is.

Mark Kermode talks about it in his podcast this week: http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/entertain ... mode.shtml (available until 10 Feb)

And you can watch it happen here.

"someone shot at you and put a wound in your abdomen"
"It's not significant."

What's that Wagner piece that is played at the end of Nosferatu?

The IMDb lists this:

"Das Rheingold"
(Prelude)
by Richard Wagner
Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Georg Solti

I believe the Prelude from Das Rheingold is first used when Jonathan makes his journey through the Carpathians, also, in addition to Wagner & Voh's score, is the Sanctus from Gounod's Messe Solennelle.

Absolutely essential: Daniel Zalewski's profile of Herzog from the shooting of Rescue Dawn in the April 24 New Yorker. A great roundup of Herzogiana.

Yes, the piece from the end of Nosferatu is, indeed, Sanctus. What makes it such a bizarre choice is that it's basically a hymn (or, more accurately, a part of the Mass) Something to the effect of "Holy, holy, holy God. Jesus our saviour" (or, Christ save us?) Anyway, the very opposite of what one expects to hear while the vampire rides triumphantly into the sunset.

I seem to recall, once, somewhere online, reading a suggestion that the theme behind Nosferatu is the Renaissance scientists being punished for their dismissive attitude towards the supernatural. In which, the vampires can be seen as something like the plagues (or, more accurately, the Israelites' being conquered/attacked by the Babylonians, Philistines, etc.)

(Nosferatu, in case you can't tell, is one of my very favourite films. More so, actually, than the silent original.)

Das Rheingold is, indeed, the 'sunset' theme (played twice, during Harker's journey to the Carpathians and Dracula's disembarking in Wismar.) It's actually the very first piece of music from Wagner's 12 hour tetralogy.

The piece also saw use in Roeg's "Eureka" (the discovery of the gold) and I've always thought I detected a homage to at the very end of the end credits of Return Of The King (presumably, a rather clever reference by Shore to that 'other' Ring epic.)

And, in case anyone's wondering, the other non-Popol Vuh piece used (when Ajandi seduces Kinski) was the chant, Tsintskaro. Actually an old Georgian chant, something about fetching water from a well, I think I read somewhere.

A huge Herzog doc series is coming May 18 - June 7 at Film Forum.

Next up: Cheese and Worms

Cheese

When I was in grad school, a classmate of mine and I would reconstruct the entirety of Werner's "Grizzly Man" narration from our desks, often resulting in our professors passing by and wondering why our office was filled with "chaos, destruction and murder", and just why there were so many "little champions" about. I also adore how Herzog pronounces "the bears" in that film as "da bearss", like a true Super Fan.

JOY!

Herzog's, On Walking in Ice is finally being reissued in September. Amazon.com listing.

Herzog likes this book more than any of his films (Herzog on Herzog, p. 282) so I'll be sure to check it out. OOP copies usually went for $80-150.

I read that. It didn't leave much of an impression on me. It's mostly him talking about how his feet hurt and what a drag it is to walk in the woods while it is raining. I'm sure that some people would get a kick out of it though and it held my interest even though nothing really happens in it. The back cover of the paperback I have it pretty cool. It has a dangling baby grabbing onto a clothes line-like wire...beyond Stroszek!

The man himself reading Walking on Ice can be heard on a 3cd set from Winter and Winter in October.

Just checked...No subs.

New Fresh Air interview.