The eccentric actor Werner Herzog compared to a jazz musician: “It’s just wonderful”
Few individuals involved in the world of film are as captivating, infuriating, and mesmerising as Werner Herzog. The maverick German filmmaker has lived a wild life, all in pursuit of art. His works of fiction include Nosferatu the Vampyre, Fitzcarraldo, and Aguirre, The Wrath of God, and he has also made an array of dazzling documentaries. He has visited the very extreme ends of the Earth in search of incredible true stories, putting himself in very real danger in the process.
In terms of acting talent, Herzog has worked with some of the best. His most notable collaborator was the infamously unstable Klaus Kinski, who was also the subject of a documentary called My Best Fiend. Elsewhere, he has directed the likes of Michael Shannon, Christian Bale, and Nicole Kidman, but one actor stood out in his mind as being among the very best.
While promoting his 2009 film Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Herzog spoke to Movieline about its star, Nicolas Cage. “We had a wonderful platform of complete trust before we even started working,” the director explained. “Nicolas crafted a character where he knew I would allow him wild moments. Much of it is disciplined work, but very often, he knew he had complete liberty, like in jazz, where the instrument plays solo and improvises. I don’t even know how we created all this, but it’s just wonderful to work with someone as imaginative as Nicolas Cage.”
The movie loosely resembles Abel Ferrara’s 1992 picture Bad Lieutenant, though Herzog went out of his way to say it was not a sequel or a remake. Cage stars as Terence McDonagh, a police officer who, after getting injured in the line of duty, turns to corruption to fuel his prescription and recreational drug habit. Eva Mendes stars as McDonagh’s sex worker girlfriend, and the film also features appearances from Val Kilmer, Brad Dourif, Jennifer Coolidge, Denzel Whitaker, and Xzibit.
Herzog is known for asking a lot from his actors. He had almost every single cast member on the set of Heart of Glass hypnotised as an experiment, resulting in some of the most bizarre performances you’ll ever see in a film. This history prompted the interviewer to ask if any of them ever ‘freaked out’ over his demands on the set of Bad Lieutenant. “I wouldn’t say that,” he replied. “But I would say that when I was so convinced a scene was wonderful, I would stop it after two takes. The crew would ask, ‘Where is the coverage?’ And I would say we don’t need it, it’s so perfect. Nicolas said, ‘Finally, someone who knows what he’s doing!’”
It’s incredibly reassuring to learn that Herzog and Cage get on, as from the outside, they seem like two peas in a pod. Both are highly unconventional and regularly made fun of for the fact. They are both known for their unusual interviews, accompanied by their own idiosyncratic style of delivery. Also, they both love classic cinema, so they definitely had something to talk about when the cameras stopped rolling.
The two loveable maniacs were set to reunite on Dead Man’s Wire, a film inspired by the real case of a man who took a real estate broker hostage after he fell behind on mortgage payments. Alas, both have since dropped out of the project, which means we’ll have to wait a little while longer for the dream team to get back together.
