There’s a Werner Herzog evening on Arte today: it starts with an epic war film based on a true story, for which Christian Bale went to his limits.
Master director and occasional Star Wars villain Werner Herzog filmed the true story of Dieter Dengler in Rescue Dawn, whose agonizing captivity during the Vietnam War caused a sensation. The leading role in the 2006 war film was played by extreme actor Christian Bale.
Christian Bale went through hell for the true story
Rescue Dawn is set in 1965 during the Vietnam War. The German-American pilot Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale) is shot down during a bombing mission over the territory of Laos. He is initially taken prisoner by the communist liberation army Pathet Lao. He is then handed over to a Vietcong prison camp, where he meets other Americans who are being held in the most difficult conditions (including Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies). Hunger, disease and violence are the order of the day. Together, the Americans plan their escape
(Rescue Dawn)
Herzog adapted his own 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly into a feature film for Rescue Dawn. In order to slip into the role of Dieter Dengler, Christian Bale had to lose some of the weight he had put on for Batman Begins. According to The New Yorker, the actor lost around 25 kilograms in advance to play the emaciated Dengler. As weight gain is easier, the film was then shot in reverse order: at the beginning of the shooting schedule was Dengler, emaciated by his long imprisonment, and at the end was the aviator shortly before his plane was shot down.
More: Gerard Butler flees 400 miles through enemy territory in this action-packed war film – secure it now for home viewing
In addition, according to his own statements to Collider, Bale ate real maggots and fought with live snakes. Werner Herzog described his impression of Bale to Esquire in 2014 (via EOnline ):
He’s the most hardworking, professional person you could ever work with.
