The Guy Who Ate His Shoe

02.27.08 | Category: Asymmetry, Unexpected

Werner Herzog, Photo by DrueZen lessons from a master of the unexpected. Last night I met Werner Herzog, acclaimed German filmmaker, at a special screening of his latest film, Rescue Dawn, starring Christian Bale. In a career spanning 54 films, Herzog has dragged a steamship over a mountain in the Peruvian jungle, hypnotized a cast for a shoot, filmed on a volcano ready to explode, and boiled and eaten his own shoe. (See video below). Werner Herzog and Drue KataokaBut that’s not what has impressed me most about the cinematic giant. I was struck by Herzog’s many Zen-like insights, applicable to other art forms, and to technology. Herzog imparts wisdom as he speaks the bold unadorned truth with no fear of the consequences. He is uncompromising in the creation of his art. Here are some ValleyZen takeaways I distilled from Werner Herzog:

1) Break Your Routine

The actors had to lose up to 50 pounds for their emaciated roles. Because it is easier to gain weight quickly than to lose weight fast, Rescue Dawn was shot backwards –last scenes first. Herzog acknowledged, “This was a great challenge for developing characters and for directing the inner moods of the characters.” However, I observed an incredible end-result. Herzog creates a beautiful energy that pulls both forwards and backwards in the film.

2) Never do the Same Thing

“I’ve never been at a standstill,” Herzog said. “I’ve never trod the same square inches until I sank into the ground.” Herzog most certainly has not fallen into a creative rut. Instead he has embraced extremes and continually challenged the status quo.

3) Release your Digital Doppelgängers

Herzog’s fame and unparalleled impact on visual culture has created many alternative selves that he calls the Herzog Doppelgängers. He accepts that he doesn’t have control of these “stooges” or the way they are perceived by the media. Instead of being concerned, he jokes, “at least I don’t need a bodyguard.”In the Valley, our digital doppelgängers include multiple online presences and in some cases virtual personalities. I think it’s possible to take a page out of Herzog’s book, relinquishing control, letting go of defining a single rigidly articulated self and accepting the multi-faceted realities we all must navigate in this new media world.

16 Comments so far

  1. john felstiner

    Yes, extreme is the word for this film. And that note about filming chronologically backwards — quite a stroke. It was a high point to be with Herzog, talk a bit, take in his drive firsthand, shake his hand.

  2. Drue

    Thanks John — he does push his actors and audiences to extremes.

    I think it requires great artistic and technical skill to be able to go backwards in any medium.

    I chose the photo that I took of him onstage (above) because I thought the double-exposure was interesting in the context of his doppelgängers.

  3. Charlene

    Herzog was such an amazing speaker and so inspiring, with such determination and unwavering spirit. And true, so many things that he had to teach us!!! Release the dopplegangers….

  4. Drue

    His words held many lessons.

    I particularly liked the moment when a helicopter (probably on its way to Stanford Hospital) whizzed by outside and Herzog turned back to look for the source of the sound. The collective experience of seeing his film was so powerful, it was almost as if one could suspend disbelief and imagine the helicopter from the film was going to burst through the red curtain.

    This was indeed a surreal moment, as the image of the final helicopter sequence in the film on the big screen was still lingering in our imagination.

    It brought to mind what Herzog had said about the complex nature of reality.

  5. Joachim

    He is a great artist but I do not agree in what he says about television (even today). TV is not killing our language – its just part of our life.

    @Drue: This site is formidable!

  6. Ruth

    Herzog is one of my heroes!

    Fitzcarraldo & Burden of Dreams make a brilliant double feature. White diamond…one of my favorites!

  7. Tristan Naramore

    I’ve been catching up on Herzog films lately. Last week it was Aguirre, Wrath of God. I never realized how much influence this film had on Apocalypse Now! Also, I think there’s a little bit of Aguirre in Caption Jack Sparrow: Anyone notice how they both walk with a permanent list to the aft?

    In one interview, Herzog states that he never dreams. Not that he can’t remember his dreams, but that he does not dream when he sleeps. Instead, he dreams by making movies. Remarkable! I’ve always felt that movies are the dreams of the collective unconscious.

    As for digital doppelgangers, the issue of control is very interesting. Herzog’s philosophy is nearly diametrically oppose to that of the hacker, who craves complete, anonymous control and access. Perhaps because Herzog is Famous Person, he must cope with the daily burdens of being publicly recognizable. It would be weird to have people coming up to you all time, people who you’ve never met or corresponded with, and acting as if they knew you just because they’ve seen you on TV. (No wonder Britney lost it!) One’s screen-self is a highly mediated entity that bears little or no relation to the real self.

    Then again…I suppose one could apply the same logic to your own body. After all, what we think we are is based upon a lot of highly filtered sensory input. Isn’t non-Self a central tenet of Zen?

  8. BJ Fogg

    How did you manage to get an audience with him? Probably your usual charm . . .

  9. Drue

    Joachim – It’s up for debate whether TV and (internet TV) is helping or hurting our language(s). I admire Herzog’s concern for preserving languages. He’s impassioned about the thousands of living languages that are kept alive by a very few speakers. He points out that just beyond our lifetime, less than 10% will be left. “People are concerned with hugging trees. Why don’t they go and hug someone who is the last living speaker of a dying language?” he asked.

    Ruth – Double feature yes! Checked out and enjoyed streetpictures! Wonderful to have your filmmaker’s thoughts in this conversation.

    Tristan – Great observations. In both Aguirre and Apocalypse Now the protagonists venture into hostile jungles on dangerous missions. Coppola acknowledges the debt to Aguirre. Yet in a way these two films are opposites. In Apocalypse Now the protagonist finds meaning and realizes self-discovery. In Aguirre it is a mission of first destruction, and then self-destruction.

    Speaking of Dreamstates, have you seen the surreal moment in Little Dieter Needs to Fly when Dieter is surrounded by a sea of thousands planes (shot in “The Boneyard” in Tucscon, Arizona). I’ve visited the Pima Air & Space Museum and it is a haunting experience.

    Like your riff on the Digital Doppelgängers.

  10. Louis Bosshart

    Wenn sich ein führender Filmemacher aus Europa mit einer hervorragenden Künstlerin aus den USA trifft, dann werden die intellektuellen Funken sprühen. Er ist Visionär und von seinen Plänen wie besessen, und sie ist es auch. Alles Gute für das Treffen! Louis Bosshart, Fribourg – Freiburg (Switzerland)

  11. Vlasta Diamant

    I want to comment on the only movie by W. Herzog I have seen –
    “Fitzcarraldo”; the most beautiful and poignant scene, when the main character sits at the head of the boat, traveling upstream, believing, and indeed taming the aborigines with the nobility of music (like Papageno in “The Magic Flute”), the majestic sound of the opera. And indeed no arrow flies toward him out of the green curtain of vegetation. This scene captures the Quixotic Idealism, nobility of German character – rarely recognized!

  12. Drue Kataoka

    Thank you for sharing one of your favorite Herzog moments Vlasta.

  13. Mark Appler

    Saw “Wrath of God” last night. Said to myself “I think Johnny Depp saw Klaus Kinski in this film.”

    Coincidence or Conspiracy? You be the judge.

    Thought I’d check online to see if anyone else noticed this.

    So here’s to you, Tristan.

  14. Drue Kataoka

    @ Mark – Thanks for your sharing your observations on ValleyZen. Tristan, what do you think?

  15. Tristan

    I think I haven’t been here for awhile. Loving this transtemporal discussion, too.

    @Mark: Thanx for the kudos!

  16. Lobodelsur

    Like the concept, Drue. LOVE the image. Please keep adnidg them your imagery is extraordinary! I recently saw a calligraphy exhibit at the Shanghai Museum. Many of the artists used a red stamp similar to yours above. It will be interesting to watch you two flip the coin on these opposite and complementary topics. For a few laughs along the way, check out one of my new portfolio companies, ComicWonder.com. They are restoring the art of audio joke telling over the web it’s not a joke until it’s told. As part of my due diligence, I posted one you might enjoy about Socrates, called Shag that Dog. Cheers

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