Warner Herzog, Filmmaker

Warner Herzog has been called many things, most of which are derived not from viewing his films exactly, but how he makes his movies. Eccentric, mad visionary, twisted genius; names like that. It just so happens that he makes films about those types of 'mad' characters, particularly the ones that star the reportedly volatile Klaus Kinski like Aguirre, Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo. (The great Irish band The Frames have a song called "Fitzcarraldo" that was inspired by the movie.) There's even a documentary about the two men's love/hate relationship. While he's been held in high esteem for years by film geeks, it wasn't until 2005's superb Grizzly Man did Herzog emerge from the art house, albeit a latent one. I was introduced to Herzog's work while a undergrad thanks to the Rutgers Film Co-op's weekly screenings of films that were not being shown anywhere other than New York and LA. Recently I was trying to figure out when exactly would we see the US release of Rescue Dawn when I discovered that one of his old films, 1987's Corba Verde (starring a wild-eyed Kinski) is being released in NYC today. BTW- if anyone knows the deal with Rescue Dawn drop me a line. Also see the April 2007 Esquire column "What I Learned" that features Herzog.