Werner Herzog explains why Nicolas Cage and Klaus Kinski possess the same “gift”
Klaus Kinski was noted for his intensity in front of the camera and for his erratic, often violent behaviour away from it. The German actor worked with his fellow countryman Werner Herzog on five films: Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Nosferatu the Vampyre, Woyzeck, Fitzcarraldo, and Cobra Verde, creating a working relationship and legacy that is cemented into the annals of history.
However, when asked whether or not he missed working with Kinski, Herzog replied: “No. We made five films, and as I said quite a few times, every grey hair on my head I call Kinski.” Moving on from that joke, Herzog added: “No, it was also wonderful to work with him, even though he was the biggest of all pestilences, and I mean borderline paranoid, and throwing hysterical tantrums three, four, five times a day.”
Evidently, Herzog found working with Kinski difficult, although he added: “I always knew it was worthwhile because he was such a tremendously gifted man. He had the grace of God upon him.” He then noted that Nicolas Cage also possesses that same gift, calling him “one of those people who have some sort of grace upon him, and you don’t know where it comes from.” He added, “There are few people who have it.”
Cage had worked with Herzog on 2009’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans alongside Eva Mendes, Jennifer Coolidge and Val Kilmer. The film is loosely based on Abel Ferrara’s 1992 film Bad Lieutenant, although Ferrara expressed his dismay at the fact that Herzog was making the film.
Regardless of Ferrara’s opinion, the film afforded Cage the opportunity to display his trademark intensity, with some noting that he seemed to have shades of Kinski’s acting in his actions and eyes. However, Herzog stopped short of saying that Cage’s ‘Kinskiness’ was intentional. “No, they had nothing to do with each other,” Herzog said. “Kinski’s so different; we can only say very few in film history who have this kind of presence on the screen and this kind of intensity. Maybe early Marlon Brando, Nicolas Cage, Kinski, and you’re almost at the end of naming others.”
Herzog claimed that Kinski did not possess “any humour”, adding that several scenes in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans call for hilarity. Discussing Cage’s character in the film, Herzog said: “He’s so vile and so debased that it really connects with an audience, and there’s a very dark humour about it. It’s the most hilarious film you can ever see.”
“When you see Kinski, it’s never hilarious; he’s just driven by whatever,” Herzog added. “And Nicolas Cage, I told him there’s such a thing as the bliss of evil; that’s what we are heading for.” However, the fact remains that Cage and Kinski’s intensity are one and the same, and according to Herzog, an essential feature of their “gift”.
