taking fire

Klaus Kinski (the crazy looking one, above) and Werner Herzog (the scared looking one) have popped up these pages a couple of times so I thought I’d give a quick summary of my favourite moments over the years with both of them. You should seek these out immediately or call me and you can borrow them.

Aguirre, The Wrath of God:

An absolute fantastically doomed-rollercoaster-ride down the Amazon with Spanish Conquistadors in search of El Dorado. Like Aaron mentioned earlier this is ‘guerilla film-making’ at its best, Herzog’s wonder and awe of the environment around him almost taking over from the storytelling at times. Add to this a great soundtrack and you have a truly hypnotic film – the opening shot of hundreds of soldiers marching down a mountain – truly dwarfed by their surroundings – is a fantastic example of this style of film-making.

You might be interested to know that Francis Ford Coppola was heavily influenced by this film and that influence can be seen all over Apocalypse Now.

The performances are all sensational and Kinski’s bug-eyed lunacy has never been better. As the doomed Don Lope de Aguirre he envisions founding an Amazonian empire, controlling the weather, being the Wrath of God and starting a master race with his daughter.

This is not Hollywood.

And I was lucky enough to catch it at a one-off screening a couple of years ago in the Filmhouse. Fantastic stuff.

Burden of Dreams:

A documentary looking at the troubled shooting of Fitzcarraldo, Herzog’s fourth film with Kinski as his leading man and his return to the heart of darkness, albeit a more civilised one.

The fantastic thing about this documentary is that is takes a look at this ‘guerilla film-making’ in action with sees Herzog struggling to hold together a production containing a maniacal leading man, unpredictable weather in the Peruvian jungle, hundreds of native Indians (employed as extras) armed to the teeth (some offered to kill Kinski for Herzog), a demoralised crew and the rather interesting main focus of the film which involves a steam ship being hauled across a small mountain. Which they did for real.

This documentary contains rare footage of the original Fitzcarraldo – Jason Robards – and his side-kick who was played by Mick Jagger. Yes.

Mein Liebster Feind a.k.a My Best Fiend:

Shot in 1999 this is a touching look at the turbulent relationship between Kinski and Herzog, filmed after Kinski’s death in 1991. Herzog and Kinski crossed paths a number of times before they worked together (in a similar way to Scorsese and De Niro) and this charts the relationship from their initial meeting in Munich where Kinski – as a struggling actor – shared the same home as Herzog, his siblings and his mother. They went on to make five films together and had a particularly intense love-hate relationship.

Amusing anecdotes are offered up from Herzog and others that paint an occasionally terrifying portrait of a man on the brink of madness. Slow-motion footage from Aguirre showing a deranged Kinski smashing a sword across a co-star’s head and almost killing him in the process is a particular highlight. As are tales of Herzog threatening to kill Kinski on the set of Aguirre – he had a gun with six bullets and promised five for Kinski and one for himself.

Kinski Uncut:

I read this about eight years ago and I think it’s about time for round two. This is the frankly shocking autobiography of Kinski which was written shortly before his death in 1991.

This is probably the most over-the-top book I have ever read and contains such far-fetched stories that they would put even K.M’s ramblings to shame. Kinski had a voracious sexual appetite it charts many of his ‘encounters’ in graphic, pretty much pornographic detail. But it does make for fantastic reading. His run-in with the ‘giantess’ is a particular favourite of mine.

Other sinister highlights include his slightly-dodgy devotion to his son – “I want to hold him, kiss him, lick him…” – and an only-hinted-at sexual run-in with his mother. Yes.

Definitely recommended.