Sunday, November 25, 2007
Herzog Sort of Goes Hollywood with Dieter
Werner Herzog is among the most physical of filmmakers, fueled by independent vision and iconoclastic and seemingly uncompromising eyes. From Even Dwarves Started Small, to the weird unique films of the seventies and staring fringe personalities like Bruno S and Klaus Kinski to unique and poetic documentaries, such as Little Dieter Needs To Fly, the source for his recent Rescue Dawn. My conclusion: no matter budget, topic or marketing of film product: Herzog is unique, individual and always worth checking out.
Rescue Dawn came into theaters this summer. It didn't do well at the box office. I had a hard time trying to track down where it was playing. It seemed to drift between theaters in the middle of the two weeks or so it was out there. And anyone who has been struck by the 65 year old German filmmaker's legend and work might have been quite surprised by the appearance of this film. A Herzog film with genre! (POW camp escape war movies) A Herzog film with stars recognizable to American film goers! (Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, and Jeremy Davies) A Herzog film released by a major US studio! (MGM)
But rest assured, it is still a Herzog film. The shots of SE Asia jungle aren't as long as they are of the Amazon jungle in Fitzcarraldo or Aguirre. And the camera moves with Hollywood visual vocabulary (not just pans but crane shots too! -- the famous Herzog static camera with long shots of mist or Bruno S staring in space are in no way a stylistic pillar of this film) The soundtrack music is lovely and used in the way that traditional Hollywood films are scored. Also, Rescue Dawn has quite the standard three act structure: I. Pilot goes on mission and is shot down. II. Pilot is captured and endures great hardship while leading others in planning escape. III. Pilot escapes with partner, endures the jungle, monsoon, in classic man against nature conflict (seasoned with attacking Vietcong) and is rescued.
This is the best of both worlds:It is artistic vision yet delivered as commercial product. The story of Dieter was very well told in the documentary, Little Dieter Needs To Fly. I watched it for the first time in about eight years after screening Rescue Dawn. But the documentaries of all sorts will have limited appeal and won't ever reach the audience that movies with stars will have. This may be what Dieter intended when he said told Herzog that there was "unfinished business" here.
Dramatic Hollywood-based movies have a lifespan well beyond their initial release. I recall the comments in Robert Stone's memoir of the sixties, Being Green, where he advises against putting one's book on the screen unless you want it to haunt you on late night motel reruns for the rest of your life. Rescue Dawn is more than war movie and it is more than simple entertainment, but the genre, conventions, and star power will keep it alive for the eyes of many, perhaps for generations, regardless of how it fared at the multiplex this summer.
The extras on the DVD and a screening of Little Dieter will bring a viewer to greater depth and a fuller relationship with Rescue Dawn. On the commentary, Herzog tries to be convincing that he never puts his actors in harm's way, although he numerates his own list of injuries on the set. My favorite Werner Herzog moment is when he says "Storyboards are for cowards." And makes a point for non-computer generated reallity in filmmaking, carefully pointing out the shot or two (1965 prop driven fighters in formation) that had to be done with CGI. Also, he is very insightful in the commentary and features about the choices a filmmaker must make in transforming and editing non-fiction material like Dieter's story. He carefully explains tha some things you must do to make it more movie-like and you can't tell it all or you would have an eight hour film. In Herzog's experienced hand and continued unique strong vision, the choices he made from Dieter's life for Rescue Dawn were ones made well indeed.
posted by well-executed buffet at 1:46 PM
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