If you ever catch wind of a Q & A session slated to be paired with a screening of a film by respected director - Werner Herzog - jump at the golden opportunity to rub shoulders - and interact, if possible - with the visionary filmmaker.
A few months ago, die-hard fans (myself included) were treated to a delightful evening of off-the-cuff musings on the making of a recent project starring quirky Nicholas Cage (Bad Lieutenant) - for example - at the ever-popular New Beverly Cinema (West Hollywood).
After his documentary - "Encounters at the end of the World" - screened to a wildly enthusiastic audience that memorable night, the intelligent articulate auteur was inclined to offer up a handful of filmmaking tips to aspiring young directors, too.
Post: 09/18/2008
http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2008/09/werner-herzogattends-screening-of.html
The generous outgoing Herzog is slated to appear at Book Soup (8818 W. Sunset Blvd) on Saturday August 1st (@ 5 p.m.) to sign his heartfelt (no doubt greatly amusing) recollections of his topsy-turvy (at times hand-wrenching) filmmaking experience on the set of the landmark project "Fitzcarraldo".
Titled - "Conquest of the Useless Recollections From the Making of "Fitzcarraldo" - the entertaining page-turner puts the spotlight on - among other things - Herzog's forced (unpleasant?) creative partnership with volatile actor Klaus Kinski (who replaced Jason Robards last-minute when an illness felled the award-winning actor unexpectedly) during the course of the troublesome shoot.
Known primarily as an Academy award-winning Film Director(German) associated with the renowned German New Wave "movement", Hertzog's celluloid musings generally tend to focus an insightful (often searing) lens on the impassionated psyche of his subjects - adventurers, heroes, hapless stalwarts fighting against the odds - you name it.
In respect to the "Fitzcarraldo" controversy - and Herzog's unique ubiquitous cinematic style that daily impacts the cult classic scene - Wikipedia astutely noted in their biography on the respected director as follows:
"Herzog's films have received considerable critical acclaim and achieved popularity on the art house circuit. They have also been the subject of controversy in regard to their themes and messages, especially the circumstances surrounding their creation. A notable example is Fitzcarraldo,in which the obsessiveness of the central character was mirrored by the director during the making of the film, as shown in Burden of Dreams, a documentary filmed during the making of Fitzcarraldo. His treatment of subjects has been characterized as Wagnerian in its scope, as Fitzcarraldo and his later film Invincible (2001) are directly inspired by opera, or operatic themes."
"He is proud of never using storyboards and often improvising large parts of the script, as he explains on the commentary track to Aguirre, The Wrath of God."
A charming storyteller - and an equally warm, outgoing and engaging human being - the evening at Book Soup (no doubt) promises to be a glowing tribute to his craft and a stand-out must-see event worth attending.
See 'ya there, duckies!
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