"To bore the audience for a second is a sin," director Werner Herzog warned a rapt audience last night at a screening of the enlightening documentary, "Encounters at the end of the World."
The respected filmmaker was in high spirits.
With great satisfaction, Herzog announced that his latest film starring Nicholas Cage - shot in New Orleans over the past eight weeks - was now in the can.
"The Bad 'Ass' Lieutenant, I think that's what it will end up being titled," he laughed wickedly."
The project was a bit of a departure for the seasoned pro.
His approach to shooting was quite economical, after all.
"There weren't a lot of wide shots, long shots, panning in, that sort-of-thing."
"It's highly stylized."
At this juncture, the versatile filmmaker offered up a word of encouragement for young filmmakers in the audience.
"My last project had a two-man crew. Just a cinematographer and a sound man. So, you don't need a lot, 'ya know."
Then, out-of-the-blue, Herzog surprised a handful of folks when he made the bold-faced statement that Los Angeles is the most cultured place in the United States.
"More than New York," he added quite emphatically.
Well, that's a first.
Maybe, that's why ticket sales were so brisk at the theatre on a Wednesday night!
In fact, fill buffs patiently waited (for about a half-an-hour or so) in a long line that snaked down the street, with the hope of exchanging a few words with a director they obviously admired.
Mr. Herzog did not disappoint in that regard.
The affable down-to-earth spinner-of-tales stayed long after the screening to sign autographs and engage in a bit of idle chit-chat with the filmgoers.
An in-depth Q & A session prompted some meaningful dialogue, too.
"You use a lot of humor in your films. But, you are not often given credit for that. Do you feel it is important to poke fun at things," one young man was inclined to ask the film icon.
Herzog chuckled - then, without skipping a beat - thanked the lad for that.
"I'm fortified with enough philosophy that I can be funny now and then," he joked.
A bit of the industry chatter was amusing, too.
For one key scene in the "Bad Lieutenant" Herzog facilitated state-of-the-art camera equipment designed to capture unique effects.
"I used a fibre optic lens about the size of a pin head to shoot close-up on two iguanas in the foreground. Because of the way they were framed, the lizards ended up looking like Dinosaurs. Nicholas, on the other hand,looked like a miniature man in the background. The effect is great. You'll love the shot," he excitedly assured the mostly thirty-something crowd.
"At times the film is so excessively dark, it makes you want to cringe and laugh," he cackled.
"Let's say, it's a secret comedy."
Although the middle-aged auteur wasn't sure how the scripted material was going to render itself on celluloid - he pointed out that once Nicholas Cage began to inhabit his role - the natural flow of the material became fully realized.
Apparently, Cage does a bang-up job in the role.
Herzog asserted that he does his homework, too.
He noted that when Billy Wilder shot "Some Like it Hot" - the legendary director timed the dialogue - to ensure that a punchline was never lost amid the tail end of laughter from a previous joke.
Herzog followed these guidelines in the "Lieutenant".
There were many surprises in - "Encounters at the end of the World" - too.
The documentarian focused his lens on life at the bottom of the globe and research being conducted there.
"As he journeys to the South Pole, which is as far as you can get from everywhere, Werner Herzog also journeys to the prospect of man's oblivion," astutely noted Roger Ebert.
Initially, Herzog thought permission to shoot at the high-security McMurdo Research Station in the Antarctica, was beyond his reach.
However, scientists on assignment at the facility familiar with the director's stellar reputation (and wise to his projects about Penguins!) urged the curious probing filmmaker to apply for a grant.
Since his projects would never be construed as - "pure documentaries" (as he demurely put it) or legitimate "Science Films" - he was doubtful about the prospects.
With a little arm twisting, though, Herzog submitted what he laughingly referred to as a "wild" proposal for a grant.
When the grant was approved, he reeled in shock!
The visionary artist proceeded to head south and capture spell-binding footage of seals cavorting beneath the surface of the ice, among other things.
There was one big disappointment, though.
The ever-curious Herzog had to rely on others to shoot the mysterious underwater worlds he pined to lens himself because he did not have the credentials to carry out the adventurous task first hand.
"You need at least six years of diving experience," he noted sadly.
"I would have traded ten years of my life to have been able to dive in to the dark icy waters and capture the footage on film myself."
There are a number of humorous moments in the documentary, too.
At one point, the film crew trotted out to a ridge inhabited by quirky penguins, where they engaged in a spirited conversation with a scientist who had researched the habits of the black & white creatures for the past twenty years.
"Are there any gay penguins?" Herzog asked the scientist point blank.
The scientist - who was obviously taken aback by the unexpected question - paused for a moment to collect himself; then, cautiously replied.
"Well, there are misidentities."
Huh?
When the remark didn't appear to set just right, he slowly elaborated.
"Well, I have seen triangular relationships.
By that, he meant trysts that consisted of two males and one female in the scenario.
Then, as he got into the spirit of the conversation, he confessed there may be a bit of prostitution going down in the penguin community, too.
For example, an alert female may notice that a lone male has lots of rocks squirreled away.
So, the nervy creature initially saunters over to the male nest with the intention of scoffing up one or two.
"The female ends up being submissive to the male. But, the main purpose of the interaction, was to get the rocks she needed for her nest."
Fascinating stuff!
"Encounters" also does a reveal on a handful of the workers Herzog crossed paths with on his own spiritual quest.
"I did not want to approach the talks like they were TV interviews. I wanted the subjects to discuss their thoughts, their hopes, and their dreams naturally."
On those occasions, he treaded lightly.
"You must be able to instinctively establish a rapport quickly. It's important to be able to read into a man's heart."
In "Encounters", he accomplished that admirably.
And, in the process, revealed his own.
An Ingrid Bergman quotes appears to be appropriate here.
"No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight of the soul."
Bad Boy Val Kilmer also stars in "Bad"...
Gotham Award Tributes go out to Gus Van Sant, Sheila Nevins, Melvin Van Peebles, & actress Penelope Cruz.
IFP also builds audiences by hosting screenings, usually in collaboration with other major cultural institutions, in Gotham City.
