I really enjoyed this. It's a fascinating meta look at film-making.
An obsessed, driven director (Werner Herzog) is trying to make an almost impossible film about an obsessed, driven man trying to do the same impossible thing the film-maker is trying to do – drag a 320 ton boat over a mile of forest.
Most people see this as an out-and-out masterpiece, which makes me feel I need to see it again. I found it always interesting, but less emotionally compelling than two other great films about difficult filmmaking dreams gone awry; 'Hearts of Darkness' about the making of 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Lost in LaMancha' about Terry Gilliam's never completed 'Man of La Mancha' film. There's a distance in this film that worked to a point, but kept me from being emotionally caught up in Herzog's dream, or fully understanding it.
An obsessed, driven director (Werner Herzog) is trying to make an almost impossible film about an obsessed, driven man trying to do the same impossible thing the film-maker is trying to do – drag a 320 ton boat over a mile of forest.
Most people see this as an out-and-out masterpiece, which makes me feel I need to see it again. I found it always interesting, but less emotionally compelling than two other great films about difficult filmmaking dreams gone awry; 'Hearts of Darkness' about the making of 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Lost in LaMancha' about Terry Gilliam's never completed 'Man of La Mancha' film. There's a distance in this film that worked to a point, but kept me from being emotionally caught up in Herzog's dream, or fully understanding it.