Why did Werner Herzog eat his own shoe?
Filmmakers are insane creatives; at least, the very best ones are, anyway. Whilst the likes of David Lynch, Quentin Tarantino and Lars von Trier are known for their eccentricity, each may be trumped by the German extraordinaire Werner Herzog. An acclaimed director, as well as an occasional star in front of the camera, Herzog has been responsible for some of modern cinema’s greatest movies and documentaries.
Whilst he still operates in the industry to this very day, making such celebrated documentary gems as The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft and Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, Herzog is better known for his 20th-century contributions. Rising to prominence in the 1970s, Herzog made some of the most novel and innovative movies of the decade, including Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Stroszek.
It was in the latter stages of the ‘70s when Herzog would meet the burgeoning documentarian Errol Morris, a young man with a passion and talent for filmmaking but no drive to get his project, a study about a pet cemetery, made. In a bid to encourage him, Hezog promised him that if he were able to get the movie made, he would eat his own shoe, and thus, one of the best bets in movie history was born.
Encouraged by the strange proposition, Morris was eventually able to release his movie, the excellent 1978 documentary Gates of Heaven, and, as a result, Herzog was compelled to fulfil his promise. Working to create a recipe to make his shoe taste somewhat ‘good’, he and chef Alice Waters braised the director’s boot in a pot of duck fat along with thyme, bay leaves, rosemary and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Alas, this did little to change the leathery flavour.
Although he intended to eat the shoe in private, he eventually made the event public in a way to encourage future filmmakers to shoot for the stars. At the premiere for Gates of Heaven, he stated, “It should be an encouragement for all of you who want to make films and who are just scared to start, and haven’t got the guts”.
As if this distinctive message wasn’t already burned into the minds of every budding filmmaker across the globe, Herzog’s gastronomic efforts were later captured in the short documentary Werner Herzog Eats his Shoe, directed by Les Blanc, which is available to purchase through Criterion, acting as a constant reminder to any lazy creative to ‘get up and go’.
Alternatively, you can find the clip of Herzog gnawing on his leathery boots below.
