[arwhatever]

I always enjoy hearing from him because he’s so unorthodox and I never have any idea the approach he’s going to take when giving an interview or answering a question.

And I always feel the need to point out that Grizzly Man was a truly good movie. I’d heard about it for years and based on the premise expected to have a low brow appeal, something for dumb people to feel superior to someone. But no, it was a respectful and in-depth character study (with some downright poetic narration) and probably Herzog’s best movie.

[dfxm12]

something for dumb people to feel superior to someone.

Herzog has some common themes that he likes to talk about in interviews. One is that "the poet must not avert his eyes". One meaning he gives to this statement is that he takes tv programs like "here comes honey booboo" or "the Anna Nicole Smith show" seriously, because it is a product of our society, even if it seems exploitative in some way.

What I'm getting at is, if he takes exploitative reality TV in good faith, of course he makes his films in good faith with relation to his subject.

[gobdovan]

If you want to see the extent of his respectfulness and depth, with his courage for self-analysis added on top, My Best Fiend would be my choice. It's a documentary about his relationship with Klaus Kinski, who was a pretty unhinged actor. It's fascinating to watch Herzog hold his own with Kinski, and to observe the strange mental space Herzog is in, somewhere between crystal-clear vision and complete madness.

[arwhatever]

Watched it. It reads interesting indeed. Makes me suspect that, at least during the Fitzcarraldo period, Herzog might’ve thought misery was valuable or even necessary to good filmmaking - misery in the form of stunts and geographic setting, and misery in the form of lead actor’s personality.

Best part of My Best Fiend was Herzog’s own thoughts (soliloquy?) on nature and the jungle itself. Those bits were some pure solid gold Herzog.