Customer Reviews

The Wild Blue Yonder

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Wild Blue Yonder is Werner Herzog's latest film, following the popular and acclaimed Grizzly Man and the equally compelling White Diamond. It is an excellent addition to a vast body of work that encompasses experimental (Fata Morgana), documentary (Little Dieter Needs to Fly) and narrative fictional works (Aguirre: The Wrath of God, and Fitzcarraldo). Wild Blue Yonder is neither strictly a fictional feature nor a documentary, but a peculiar hybrid of both, that makes creative use of "found" NASA footage combined with the narration of Brad Dourif (Deadwood) to create a surreal and beautiful science fiction fantasy.

The film is a bizarre and wonderful beast, that playfully embraces a range of ambiguities (and inconsistencies) of time and place and concept. For this I expect it will be infuriating (or tedious) to some, but I found it fascinating and delightful and at the same time poignant. It is also one of Herzog's funniest films (while I've read festival reviews that suggest the humor in the film is unintentional it is exactly the kind of humor that pervades Herzog's work, and he is too clever a director not to be in on the joke). Aliens travel across eons of time to reach salvation on our Earth, while astronauts explore the cosmos only to find the abandoned planet the aliens left behind as their best hope. Mostly ignored upon their arrival by a culture too caught up in materialistic pursuits, the aliens mimic the ways of the natives, attempting to ensure the success of their colony by building, before all else, a mall (that, like many malls scattered throughout the United States, eventually fails because people don't come: things are cheaper at Wal-Mart). Later, in a brief summary of human history, the apparently last remaining alien describes the first great sin of mankind as the domestication of pigs, that forced them to settle down and eventually build strip malls. In the film the "Wild Blue Yonder" of Andromeda is simultaneously the here and now of this earth, deep in the seas of the Antarctic. What is said about the one could be equally said about the other. Herzog's film is both a celebration of the human desire to explore (and of the remarkable ingenuity displayed by the scientists and engineers who are the poetic visionaries of the space program) and a lamentation of our stupidity and our shameless absence of wonder. The music and sound throughout the film -- especially the remarkable singing of Sardinian vocalists -- is vibrant, both otherworldly or transcendent, and traditional, harking back to simpler times. The cinematography is gorgeously rich; even if this film had nothing else going for it, it could be appreciated as a cinematic poem of lovely images. At the same time what makes the film interesting is the fact that the images don't always fit easily with the narrative descriptions they seem intended to illustrate: a fact that highlights the peculiar status of this film as neither simply a fantasy nor a documentary, but a fantasy that, when juxtaposed with documentary images, serves to comment upon and urge reflection on the ideas that lead us to be fascinated with those images that are so revered by our culture (of early aviation, space flight, etc.). Brad Dourif is excellent as a narrator, channeling something of a peculiar mixture between Herzog's own deadpan description and the neurotically energetic exuberance of someone like Timothy Treadwell.

The film can be interpreted in a number of ways: for example, the "alien" might as well be just a disturbed but intelligent individual, whose "madness" consists of an inability to identify with the human pathologies he sees to be leading us to planetary self-destruction, and envisions an Earth without humans, in many ways more beautiful than Earth at present. At several points in response to human mistakes he repeats, "I could have told them ..." -- his remarks and the story as a whole serve to comment upon the absurdity of what has long been an implicit vision of the space program (the idea that when we have "wasted" this planet we can always go somewhere else, the final frontier ...). A literal interpretation of the alien is difficult, given that Herzog is deliberately loose with time in the film, and there can be little sense made of the ultimate chronology of the film (which depicts a narrator apparently in the present telling of things far past and in the distant future as if they were all in the past). In that respect, and as a work of experimental and cautionary science fiction, the film can perhaps be best compared to works like La Jetee by Chris Marker, and to Herzog's own Lessons of Darkness and Fata Morgana. In any case it is a stunning film, that deserves to be seen much more widely by those who are willing to set aside a few of their conventional expectations from the movies and be overwhelmed by the peculiar blend of humor and pathos that is at the heart of this delightful film.

Note: while this review is based on a screening of the film, the dvd is scheduled to be released in November (by RYKO, which recently put out a very fine version of David Lynch's Eraserhead, and which tends towards cult and independent films). Here is what they say on their website about the release:

Winner of Best Film: Critics Prize at the 2005 Venice Film festival , Werner Herzog's (Grizzly Man) new feature is an epic vision of our search for a new planet to colonize while aliens (narrated by Deadwood''s Brad Dourif) attempt to settle on our almost uninhabitable Earth. A revolutionary mixture of original NASA footage, amazing footage under the Antarctic ocean ( shot by musician Henry Kieser), interviews with cutting-edge scientists, all culminate into Herzog's personal plea to save our own planet, The Wild Blue Yonder has fans, critics and skeptics alike in furor. An absolutely unique cinematic experience in a limited edition DVD release with hours of special features.

- Limited edition includes full-length director's commentary, featurette, still gallery, bios and more!

"Astronauts lost in space, the secret Roswell object re-examined, an alien who tells us all about his home planet - the Wild Blue Yonder - where the atmosphere is composed of liquid helium and the sky frozen, is all part of my science-fiction fantasy." - Werner Herzog

This film is a piece of art. Let it go at that and don't expect the CGI version to come out in five years. It is meant to make you think about the bigger picture, ie, how Earthlings view the universe and where they fit. It tells a science fiction story more in the vein of "what if," so if you can keep an open mind, then you'll find yourself pondering the film even a few days after viewing it. I think it is best to see it on the big screen and with an audience in order to feel its comedy and enjoy the beauty of the NASA footage and the film's astounding score. If you see it at home, dedicate an entire 90 minutes to viewing this movie, in the dark, the windows closed, without real-world interruption.

Essentially, Herzog's a genius for projecting a science fiction fantasy story onto NASA's Galileo footage and space shuttle coverage, complete with astronauts in their daily routines, and also original footage beautifully filmed by avante garde musician Henry Kaiser for the "liquid helium" sequences.

The music is perfect and Herzog himself calls the film an oratorio.

If you love the beauty and darkness of the film Baraka and the satirical parallel's to real-world politics like in Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, then you'll get what is going on in The Wild Blue Yonder.

It's a limited edition DVD; 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen; Dolby Digital Stereo; commentary featuring Herzog, Dourif and Norm Hill; Q&A, behind the scenes featurette, still galleries, and bios.

Here is information for those who want the soundtrack:

Sounds for two films by Werner Herzog

THE WILD BLUE YONDER and THE WHITE DIAMOND
Music by Ernst Reijseger

Werner Herzog was joined by Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger, Senegalese singer Mola Sylla and the Voches de Sardinna called Tenore e Cuncordu de Orosei. An initially unlikely assemblage became a powerful, unique and extraordinary work.

This album is the sound story REQUIEM FOR A DYING PLANET by Stefan Winter, inspired by Ernst Reijseger's works recorded for Werner Herzog.

A production of Winter & Winter

For further information - winterandwinter . com

The Wild Blue Yonder is an experimental film. It's a little bit fiction, a little bit mockumentary, a little bit theater, a little bit documentary, and a whole lot of Herzog. This film wasn't made to be a traditional Sci-Fi film, or easy, mindless viewing.

I saw it in a theater at a festival earlier last year and I was completely enthralled. Herzog creates a very grim and slooooow mood (like most of his filmography), consisting of real footage from underneath an arctic glacier, mathematicians blathering, and mesmerizing NASA footage. All the while, a crazed Brad Dourif weaves a fable of being an alien coming to Earth.

The music (much to the dismay of some negative viewers) is absolutely stunning, organic and trance inducing like most of Herzog's previous film's scores, similar to that Popol Vuh vibe.

If you want a clear narrative, an exciting story, characters, or if you are easily bored or unfamiliar with Herzog's obscure works or other experimental films - stay away, you'll hate it. Fans of 2001, Tarkovsky, Lessons of Darkness or just plain old art for art's sake - approach with caution, it's rewarding. Especially on a large TV screen.

"The Wild Blue Yonder" has taken an inordinately long time to finally make it to DVD. Although the cover boasts "by the director of Grizzly Man", Werner Herzog actually completed this film before his award winning documentary. This film highlights impressively Herzog's attitude to the documentary form. Although the narrative is pure science fiction fantasy (a fact Herzog over emphasises) almost every aspect of the film aside from Douriff's narration is documentary footage. Not only is it documentary, but it is also found footage, which is also case with "Grizzly Man". I'm in two minds whether this indicates a lack of creative imagination on Herzog's part (after all "Wild Blue Yonder" is a rehash of the original narrative of "Fata Morgana") or whether it shows Herzog's prophetic intelligence in using a variety of digital media to create his vision. The most impressive aspect is the underwater footage shot in the Antarctic, it truly is otherworldly and one could almost believe we are seeing another planet. The film does however get bogged down in a lot of mathematical nonsense in a number of sequences in which Herzog is clearly over indulging himself. Naturally this aids authenticity, but it is not particularly interesting. But the soundtrack which combines haunting Cello playing with Senegalese and Sardinian vocalists is mesmerising, evocative and also quietly disturbing as it provides the backdrop for mankind's limitations. The film has weaknesses, but this is Herzog so he can be forgiven for once again creating something totally strange, alien and unique.

A big thank you must go to newcomers Subversive Cinema for releasing the film, the DVD itself also has some pretty fine extras, an indispensable commentary with Herzog and Douriff and some informative and entertaining documentaries and interviews. I look forward to more from Subversive Cinema, they could be a distributor of note.

Some would argue that this is "art" and should not be judged in the same way as conventional "entertainment" films are. That might be true to some extent, but I contend that it is really just a very poorly made, poorly acted, poorly narrated, poorly conceived failure.

I picked it up thinking, "Cool, a science fiction film by an avant-garde director with an environmentalist message. Right up my alley." What followed was a brief period of bafflement, followed by disbelief and outrage as I realized how horrible this movie is.

This is movie features extensive use of NASA footage (mostly inside scenes of the space shuttle and lectures/interviews) and some truly beautiful Antarctic undersea footage. Okay so far. It has a strange and beautiful soundtrack, also very much okay as far as I'm concerned.

But the story... Fearing contamination from an alien disease, NASA sends up an ad-hoc space shuttle mission which immediately determines (via badly repurposed SOHO and other solar observatory footage) that the entire Milky Way galaxy is inhospitable, so we'd better go to the edge of the Amdromeda Galaxy instead. In the space shuttle. Using completely bastardized Lagrange Point orbital mechanics (a cool lecture in its natural context) to magically transit the 3 or so million light years to Andromeda overnight. The astronauts then spend two days scuba diving in the liquid helium (-260 deg. C) planet they find there, and decide that this is (of course) the perfect place to put a new base. They then travel (forward) in time (not relativistically, but parallel-universtacularly) while being transmuted into pure light and reassembled back on a now-abandoned Earth, which shore looks purty without all those people. Roll credits.

All that might be forgiven if... um... uh.... No, all that is unforgivable. But it's made significantly worse by the flat performance turned in by the film's only actor, Brad Dourif. His is by far the weakest performance in the film.

If I were one of the scientists whose work was quoted in this movie, I would be so unhinged by the ordeal as to waste the rest of my days searching for ways to go back in time in a trans-galactic wormhole-surfing space shuttle to dip Werner Herzog in liquid helium and prevent this film from being completed. Sadly, the time for proactively dipping Werner Herzog in liquid helium is gone forever. But it is (hopefully) not too late for you to turn your back on this pretentious atrocity. Run, I beg of you. It's too late for me; save yourselves.

(An addendum: Don't believe the reviewers who imply that people who dislike this movie simply lack the sophistication to appreciate it for what it is. I enjoyed the original Russian "Solaris", which is certainly no popcorn movie. And one of my favorites of all time is "Koyaanisqatsi" - a film which consists entirely of plotless, soundless documentary footage with a score that prominently features toneless Hopi vocals. So I can appreciate the avant garde, and I still say this is the worst film I've ever seen. Honest. You're better off watching two hours of security camera footage from an empty underground parking garage.)

I'm generally hesitant to provide a review, but seeing as this film is so hotly contested and I feel so strongly about it I feel I must.

If you have any expectations going into this film then I urge you to just not bother. I mean, I'm not going to see Transformers 2 and if I did I wouldn't bother writing a negative review of it, it's just not my style and knowing that I don't like films like that it wouldn't be fair of me to rate it. If on the other hand, you are interested in something that playfully and sometimes violently challenges the conventions of film and narrative or, you are looking for art--which is exceedingly difficult to find in film these days, this might be perfect for you.

Without a doubt this is a strange movie, the acting is very dead pan, but if you can look at it with an open mind you'll find a subtle and bizarre sense of humor and, more importantly, nothing contrived (and by this I mean phony and cliche, Herzog undoubtedly plays with authenticity and such). The acting, despite the majority of reviews, if looked upon the right way, is one of the finest points of the film, it's simply unbelievable!

Also, if you are a fan of Herzog you'll find him extending or elaborating on many themes that have been present from his earlier films: chaos, fragility, the sublime, etc. If you liked Grizzly Man you might enjoy this (I loved Grizzly Man). For me the Wild Blue Yonder is a metaphor for a plane of immanence reached by a line of flight. A smooth space, undifferentiated and free of stop flows and what not. ;)

And, finally, the film is beautiful. Through and through. I think an overall litmus for the movie, as to whether or not you'll enjoy it, is if you can appreciate the music, or at least have an open mind towards it.

Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite films and in my opinion one of the most beautiful works of art I've seen in a long time.

A Science Fiction Fantasy. Lulz.

I'm not even going to waste time explaining in detail why the movie is bad because the others who gave it one star have said it already. I will just say that it might be more enjoyable having my eyes pecked out by crows.

Well this one is a real puzzle. There are three main scenes in this: that's not a spoiler; it's shown on the packaging. There's a derelict building, weightless astronauts on a spaceship, and divers under ice. That's all real and shot on location. However the plot and its location is something else and is overlaid onto a reality that we're only too aware of.

I guess this one is really about perception, and I found I had to work very hard to doublethink two perceptions at once - particularly as I used to function in one of those elements myself, as a scuba diving instructor.

Herzog appears to put his cards on the table in this one: the step that humanity made between hunter-gathering and settled farming (or civilisation) is what started the ecological destruction of our planet. But this film is more than that.

As always, Herzog is celebrating the beauty of our world and of our inner life with fantastic camera work. Just enjoy it. That is enough. If it makes you swap your car for public transport, and you decide to use fewer aeroplanes and plastics, then good on you. But the beauty of the light and colour shining through the ice, and the grace of the floating astronauts is more than that.

This movie stopped me in my tracks. Simple photography, simple story, simple presentation. It figures into a thought provoking presentation that forces people to say 'why not?'. Perhaps it is sad that we need such stimulus to make us think. But we are lucky to have the opportunity to have our curiousity piqued enough to investigate Werner Herzog's other films.

This film is a beauty. Photography, music, directing and the acting of Brad is literally out of this world. It might be a science fiction tale -but essentially - I truly believe our future destiny as human beings and as human race as a whole is depicted in this movie. After watching this movie, I fell in love with my planet and now I find unbearable the idea of having to leave the Earth to survive in other places. If we cannot love and respect our home planet we have no right to go out and mess up other worlds.
After watching it - you will feel as if you had been for an instant somewhere else, you will feel with a different state of mind and consciousness.

Five stars. This is destined to be a cult movie.