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Best Books of the Month
Want to know our Editors' picks for the best books of the month? Browse Best Books of the Month, featuring our favorite new books in more than a dozen categories.
There are many *good* books out there which do a fine job of teaching you something new. There are *great* books that compel you to change your behavior, or take up a new hobby. And then there are *extraordinary* books which can potentially change the course of your life. This is such a book.
Werner Herzog is an original. As a youngster, he taught himself how to make films. When no one would fund his movie-making habit, he started his own production company at age 17. When he needed to get through the Peruvian jungle for filming "Fitzcarraldo", he forged official-looking documents for safe passage (they worked). For every film, he did a thousand things to get the shot. He once won a poetry contest four times by entering under five different names, and directed major operas when he couldn't read music.
Reading the book, I came to have deep respect for his unstoppability and uncompromising vision. There is a certain methodical madness that should inspire all of us to roll up our sleeves, listen to that inner voice of creativity, and just do what needs to get done. It also compels the reader to look beyond the strictures of university degrees, schools of thought and ossified convention to forge one's own idiom. It's an incredibly powerful, freeing notion for any artist, exemplified by this passage: "While at work on this book, Werner explained he wanted something done a particular way. I suggested to him that 'the publisher doesn't usually do that.' He absorbed what I told him, paused, then said softly, 'I'm not interested in how things are usually done. I want it done this way.Read more ›
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
If you are hoping to gain some deep insight into the process by which famous directors plan their storyboards and ensure that they have adequate coverage of their angles from this book, save your money and buy a different one.
If you want to discover more about Herzog's private life, you should look elsewhere.
If though, like me, you are captivated by the power of Herzog's films, the poetry of his landscapes, the direct and fearless assault he makes on subjects as diverse as the aftermath of the Gulf War, Sky-Fliers, Death Row, the McMurdo research station, and want to know a more about his ideas and his work, then this book is invaluable.
This book is an expanded and revised version of Cronin's earlier "Herzog on Herzog" (Faber & Faber, 2003). It consists of a series of interviews between Cronin and Herzog, edited by them both, that took place over the 10 years to 2012. Cronin prompts; Herzog explains, elucidates, reformulates, expounds, recaps and explains again.
Herzog's philosophy is clearly stated throughout. Simply put, he believes that real life is everything, and it is through intimate and committed contact with real life that we discover true understanding and meaning.
The quote from its pages that brought me to this book was: "The best advice I can offer to those heading into the world of film is not to wait for the system to finance your projects and for others to decide your fate. If you can't afford to make a million-dollar film, raise $10,000 and produce it yourself. That's all you need to make a feature film these days. Beware of useless, bottom-rung secretarial jobs in film-production companies. Instead, so long as you are able-bodied, head out to where the real world is.Read more ›
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This was a fascinating and inspiring read for me, although I have one reservation which I'll save for last. I loved hearing about how Herzog had come to start his own production company, and how he had managed to keep it afloat over the years. I also really enjoyed the technical discussions behind each film, even though many of them I have never seen. Herzog's blue-collar approach to all aspects of filmmaking seems correct to me -- the filmmaker must be the engine of the production, even if that involves performing surgery on a crew member in the jungle.
My one reservation is that, as an aspiring filmmaker myself, I felt that looking at Herzog too closely might restrict me from learning my own production process. As much as I admire his process, it is uniquely his and simply staring at it does not transfer any of his abilities or sensibilities to me. In fact it would be hard to imagine Werner himself reading such a book as this. It's a Yoda-like situation, the difference between thinking (reading) and doing. I also find Werner's Rogue film school to be contradictory in that respect -- can one attend this school and still be considered a rogue of any sort?
Finally I will say that after reading this one can wonder if Werner is simply playing a part now, the role of the eccentric filmmaker. I suspect there is a little of that but mostly I think he is genuine. With that in mind I highly recommend this book.
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If you're a Herzog fan, this is essential reading. If you're involved in any creative or entrepreneurial endeavor, his advice is golden. I would say you don't even need to be much of a fan of his to get a lot out of this book.
I found it almost impossible to read this without hearing it in his slow and menacing accent.
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This item: Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed: Conversations with Paul Cronin
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