Radical Dreamer – Werner Herzog: Documentary dedicated to the life and work of filmmaker Werner Herzog – with numerous comments by his trailblazers.
Film plot and background
Documentary dedicated to the life and work of filmmaker Werner Herzog – with numerous comments by his pioneers.
In his adopted country, the USA, he is considered a star, but in his native Germany he is still considered an insider tip despite international success. Filmmaker Werner Herzog has been behind the camera since the 1960s. With his most important works around “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” (1971), “Woyzeck” (1979), “Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night” (1979) and “Fitzcarraldo” (1982), he wrote film history, showed himself to be unconventional and always on the lookout for new ideas to advance cinema.
He describes himself as a “soldier of cinema”. His Bavarian accent when he speaks English is unmistakable. In his long career, he has occasionally found his way in front of the camera as an actor – most recently in 2019 in the “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian”.
As a “Radical Dreamer”, he was listed by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of our time, and the documentary “Werner Herzog – Radical Dreamer” by Thomas von Steinaecker is a memorial to the filmmaker.
“Werner Herzog – Radical Dreamer” – background, cinema release
In addition to important trailblazers such as Wim Wenders and Volker Schlöndorff, numerous Hollywood stars around Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson, Christian Bale and director Chloé Zhao also have their say. They not only talk about his working methods, his attitudes to life and some of the mysteries surrounding his films.
At the same time, a private impression of his native home in Sachrang in the southern tip of Germany as well as his home in Los Angeles is described. While Thomas von Steinaecker watches him at work, the question is explored as to what makes Werner Herzog’s works so special and why numerous contemporary filmmakers are so fascinated by him.
“Werner Herzog – Radical Dreamer” can be seen in German cinemas from 27 October 2022.