When someone says "craftsman", the image that comes to mind is that of a carpenter, metalworker, or the painters and sculptors of the Renaissance. Werner Herzog, a well-known German filmmaker, doesn't necessarily fall into our notion of a craftsman. After viewing portions of his work Stroszek, I feel that the title of craftsman is, in fact, quite befitting for him. Craftsmen master a medium, work with (not against) their materials, and still push the material to its limit. Very similar to Michelangelo's famous quote about freeing the figure from the marble, Herzog casts his films not based on acting ability, but rather on real life experience and the applicability of a personality to his plot line. One prime example of this practice would be Herzog's employment of one Bruno S. After enduring an emotionally and physically abusive childhood and spending the majority of his life in psychiatric hosptials, this good hearted street musician brought the reality of his suffering and struggle to his on-screen persona. I love this practice of Herzog's because it means that fabricated personalities are rare in his work.
Another aspect of Herzog's artistic personality that I greatly appreciated came up in Herzog on Herzog, a book by Herzog and edited by Paul Cronin. Werner goes to great lengths to explain his influences and contextualizes his work. This leaves no wiggle room for interpretation, but also ensures that the intended message of the film remains intact.
Including the way he casts and other "strange" things he said in that interview about not calling police after the shot and being shot is cool, these all construct him a really typical artistic thought. Maybe I'm being stereotypical indicating that most artist are bizarre here but he dose have a unique personality I think. And I like he's perseverance and concrete belief in himself. That allows him to really achieve turning whatever is in his mind to reality.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Herzog is definitely a craftsmen of his medium, and works directly with its strengths to create works that are visually and emotional powerful. He clearly knows how to strategically cast actors (or non-traditional actors) into parts that fit them perfectly, and use location and music to add to the internal landscape he is known for.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of what Kate said. Herzog is a craftsman, and a very unique artist, as Jingle said. I too find it interesting that he did not call the cops when he was shot. I think that shows how much of a odd artist he was, but it also that oddness that made him brilliant.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think Herzog did very well with the documentary just by the fact that he was telling someone's life story with the person in it but at the same time not trying to impose strictly roles of professional directing even though he is very professional with his work. That alone i think added the quality and richness to the storyline. Hopefully, watching the film without the narration would give it a whole new meaning.
ReplyDeleteZenabu, I agree with you. I think the documentary is very moving and how he directs very unique balancing the theatrical quality important for viewing the film and keeping the documentary aspect alive. I'm wondering if it will come across quite as much without the narration...
ReplyDeleteThe perverse combination of writing scripts based on real people then putting them in a situation and more or less documenting their response to that situation adds an edge to his films. Perhaps the scenes are out of control and that makes them more alive and less contrived.
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