Werner Herzog Film Analysis

Germany at one point was well gifted in the art of film making. In the 1920’s German expressionism was wildly popular and inspired many filmmakers however, Germany hit a creative cinematic drought during the war and became very idle after. It was in late 1960’s that the New German Cinema movement began to get its footing. This movement was inspired by the French New Wave, causing young directors to shun the old film making ways and bring new life to the film industry. These films were normally low budget, artistic masterpieces that depicted the medium in a fresh perspective. One of the large proponents of this movement was Werner Herzog. Werner Herzog was a man who had a very interesting approach to everything he did, but in most of Herzog’s …show more content…
Herzog even once said, “The line between documentary and fiction film is obviously blurred for me.” Herzog wanted to bring a type of actuality to every one of his films. One of Herzog’s most famous films “Aguirre, The Wrath of God”, the film could almost be confused with a documentary if the account had not had happened so long ago. This film follows a group from Spain floating down river in unknown lands as they slowly lose their physical and mental capacities. Herzog wanted to bring everything out of this film and cast that he could. Werner, knowing that the film needed to be authentic, decided that he needed to film in a place as harsh and as exotic as the lands adjacent to the rumored El Dorado. It would make sense that the only way to get this effect was to go shoot literally in the heart of the South American rain forests. Herzog and the cast of spent two months enduring the brutal environments. However, despite the struggle, “Aguirre, The Wrath of God” was completed and was deemed one of the best films Herzog had ever made. The films mix of legitimacy and symbolism allows the viewer to watch and think without having to doubt themselves. One of Herzog’s other more famous fiction films is “Fitzcarraldo”. This film follows the main character Fitzcarraldo, a man with his heart set on openning an opera house, on a quest to find funds by entering the rubber trade in Peru. He buys a steam boat planning on portaging his way to an isolated land of rubber trees. It was a film that could only be made by Herzog, the challenge was perfect for him, the dense Peruvian wilderness, the notion of hauling a steam ship over a mountain, it was meant for Herzog. Herzog did not deviate from his plan either, his cast literally had to haul a 300-ton steam ship over a mountain with the assistance of pulleys and logs. Although the work was