Werner Herzog’s dream of becoming the first poet on Mars
Certain filmmakers are so wrapped up in their own creative ideas that they might seem a little odd to others. Werner Herzog, meanwhile, has always existed in a world of his own, fiercely dedicating himself to cinema. He emerged as part of the New German Cinema movement, making his first feature in 1968, Signs of Life.
His 1972 film Aguirre, the Wrath of God helped to put his name on the cinematic map. The historical drama is widely regarded as his masterpiece, although Herzog would soon come to make many other films – both fictional and documentary – which would become highly praised and coveted by critics.
From The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser to Stoszek and Nosferatu the Vampyre, the 1970s were a critical decade for Herzog, who became one of the most revered names in European cinema. His movies explored the complexities of the human experience, something he has also come to discover through his documentary work. With titles like Grizzly Man, Land of Silence and Darkness, and Meeting Gorbachev, the filmmaker has investigated all kinds of people, often focusing his attention on life’s outsiders.
Herzog is known for his unusual methods of creating movies, fully immersing himself in the stories he is trying to tell, fictional or otherwise. When he made Fitzcarraldo, known as one of the most chaotic and difficult movie productions of all time, Herzog lost himself in the film, which dealt with obsessiveness.
The production saw everything from an extra cutting off his foot to local indigenous people offering to kill Klaus Kinski on behalf of Herzog because they clashed so much. Despite everything, the film was released to acclaim, and a documentary about the production, Burden of Dreams, was made by Les Blank, which was released in 1982.
Clearly, Herzog has always dreamed big. He has stated many times throughout his career how he wants to completely transform cinema as a language. For the director, no idea is too big; he will do whatever it takes to make his dreams come to life. His films have taken him across the world on a quest to discover humanity and everything that life has to offer, some of which he could’ve only dreamt of.
Talking to Filmmaker Magazine in conjunction with the release of Encounters at the End of the World, his Oscar-nominated documentary, Herzog stated, “That’s exactly what I’ve done in many films, falling in love with the world.”
Yet, in the usual Herzog style, the director turned the conversation into a bizarre fantasy about one of his biggest dreams – yet one he will never be able to make real. “There are many places I will never go. They are sending robots to Mars,” he said. “It’s far too expensive and risky to send human beings but sometimes I think instead of a robot they should send a poet up there. It would be me that would volunteer, I would be the first to apply. Of course I’ll never be there, but so be it.”
Perhaps Herzog will have to send himself to a fictional version of Mars for a film. Then, at least, his dream could partially come to life.
