the good german

My introduction to Werner Herzog was by way of the benevolent film studies department in college. What had I been missing? Klaus Kinski in the South American jungle doing a combination of performance art, havoc wreaking, and taking no prisoners in "Aguirre Wrath of God." It's a film that I didn't like at the time but the theme of man versus wild did intruige me and spoke to me in a more contemporary sense in his incredible documentary "Grizzly Man." Herzog is adept in exploring, literally and figuratively, man as a primitive being who is perhaps too consumed by his own habitat that will soon lead to his eventual downfall. This issue imbues his latest work, "Rescue Dawn", that I'm very eager to see. The film stars Christian Bale, who is one of the most committed actors in current cinema. His shifting physical and emotional range is comparable to ravenous rip tides. Herzog's love and affliction for his subjects and actors is notorious, and with Bale in his able hands the possibilities are endless.

Click here to listen to Herzog talk about the adventure of making his latest film, what captivates him as a storyteller, and in a unconscious way describe how this is possibly his most personal film. Listening to Herzog's hard but genuine German accent is a pleasure in itself.