Werner Herzog in NYC

Today, I had the great privilege of seeing Jonathan Demme interview Werner Herzog at the Times Center. Demme has created many great movies including the classic Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia which both won oscars. Herzog is an international phenomena, who has made the legendary Aguirre, the Wrath of God and has recently finished his documentary, Encounters at the End of the World. 

To give you a little sense of what Herzog's past was like, he grew up in the remote mountains of Bavaria, Germany and saw no film, TV, or radio during his childhood. He started traveling on foot at the age of 14 and made his first film when he was 19 (by stealing a camera). Despite this, he is one of the most interesting (and great) filmmakers today.

Like the Gondry interview, I did record the whole conversation so if anybody is interested, please let me know. 

Demme and Herzog started out by discussing a letter Roger Ebert has sent to Herzog expressing his admiration toward his works (which could be found on Ebert's site), then transitioned into some aspects of Aguirre, particularly the river scene after the people descend the mountain. Herzog explained how he had his DP hold the shot of the river to get a sense of the rage and anger of the water, which will ultimately be the demise of the soldiers. He also talked about filmmaking in general and his take on sound in his films. He also went on to speak about various other things (such as his relationship with Rainer Werner Fassbinder) but what I found the most interesting was when he talked about what makes a filmmaker. 

"You have to know the heart of men. If you don't, you are not a filmmaker". 

-Werner Herzog

I think that's very true, especially for young student filmmakers, like myself, who may get too absorbed in the technical aspects that they forget what is most important: the connection with the audience. I could be speaking for myself, but sometimes I feel that I lose that connection with people or I'm not connecting enough. I don't know if everybody knows the "heart of men" but I think it's something many filmmakers (or at least I) should be aware of. 

On a different note, some of you may have already heard the news but two guys climbed the New York Times building today. Right before the Herzog interview, I was waiting for my good friend Nestor, when spider-man started scaling the wall in front of my eyes. It was quite a feat.

Crazy things happen when Herzog is around...