Films of Werner Herzog

<p>Given Herzog’s own pronouncement that ‘film is not the art of scholars but of illiterates’ it is not surprising that his work has aroused ambivalent and contradictory responses. Visually and philosophically ambitious and at the same time provocatively eccentric Herzog’s films have been greeted equally by extreme adulation and extreme condemnation.</p><p>Even as Herzog’s rebellious images have gained him a reputation as a master of the German New Wave he has been attacked for indulging in a romantic naiveté and wilful self-absorption. To his hardest critics Herzog’s films appear as little more than Hollywood fantasies disguised as high seriousness. This book is an attempt to illuminate these contradictions. It gathers essays that focus from a variety of angles on Herzog and his work. The contributors move beyond the myths of Herzog to investigate the merits of his work and its place in film history. A challenging range of films is covered from <i>Fata Morgana</i> and <i>Aguirre the Wrath of God</i> to more recent features such as <i>Nosferatu</i> and <i>Where the Green Ants Dream</i> offering the reader ways of understanding why whatever the controversies surrounding Herzog and his films he remains a major and popular international filmmaker. Orignally published in 1986.</p>