Errata is a web journal written by Robert Davis who has neither spent a night in a ghost town nor pulled a turnip from the earth. He doesn't even know if turnips grow in the ground. Perhaps on trees, like candy corn. Therefore, Errata is a non-commercial project.

Observation #1: It may be appropriate, when leaving a movie theater, to say "mysterious."

Observation #2: It may be appropriate, when leaving a movie theater, to say "mysterious" at the top of your lungs. Bring your eyebrows together before you say it. Effective!

Observation #3: Same for books. Even at libraries.

There is a prize for people who correctly guess the thing about Metropolis, Nevada.

Except where the text specifically states otherwise, Errata's vagaries are indicated vaguely and its authors are indistinct in the traditional way of the Internet, except where the authors lay claim to their work. In some cases Robert Davis lays claim to work that is not his own but has been abandoned like so many ghost towns. Except where held presently, fistfuls of dirt are suspended via dispersal, or dispersed via suspension (in the air), and thus their dissolution is their transcendence, or their transcendence is their dissolution. And yet our eyes tear, and our vision is impaired, demonstrating for the umpteenth time that one entity's gain is another's fit of sneezes. Except where indicated, storms shall outlive the clay upon which they rain, unless storms are improperly delimited by their clouds, which dissolve, rather than by their inevitable return. Thus the clay loses, unless the clay is said to own the storm, to use it to make itself heavy, to make itself cling to white garments, refuse dispersal, cake upon the facades of abandoned buildings, and sit like Man [sic] upon the earth where it is pelted by a storm that it owns. In which case the clay still loses, if you ask us.

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7 August 2007 — Episode 003

Interview: Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn

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Werner Herzog shooting Rescue Dawn, photo by Lena Herzog

The third episode of the Errata podcast features a chat with Werner Herzog about Rescue Dawn, Grizzly Man, The White Diamond, and other films.

A choice quote:

Sometimes I do discover footage that is amazing and nobody sees the deep poetry in it, and you can somehow make it emerge together in context with other images, texts, acting, and music.

Another choice quote:

Contrary to the belief that I am a daredevil and I'm taking impossible risks — not so. I'm the most cautious about risks. No actor ever got injured in any of my films. And I'm very good when it comes to assessment of risks.

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Duration: 24:33

Mentioned in This Episode

Herzog's Feature Films

• Encounters at the End of the World
• Rescue Dawn
• The Wild Blue Yonder
• Grizzly Man
• The White Diamond
• Little Dieter Needs to Fly
• The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (starring Bruno S.)
• Aguirre: The Wrath of God
• Land of Silence and Darkness

Films in Which Herzog Appears

• Mister Lonely (Harmony Korine)
• Julien Donkey-Boy (Harmony Korine)
• Incident at Loch Ness (Zak Penn)

Films of Robert Bresson

• Diary of a Country Priest
• Au Hasard Balthazar

Also Mentioned

• Of Walking in Ice, a diary by Werner Herzog
• Be With Me (Eric Khoo)

Posted by davis | Link | Other Episodes

Listener Comments

August 8, 2007, 10:08 AM

Brian

Great listen, Rob. I'd have crumbled into bits trying to interview such a towering figure in my cinephilia.

Perhaps you've tracked it down already, but if not, know that Of walking in ice : Munich-Paris, 11/23 to 12/14 is available at the SF Public Library.

And I believe Lost Weekend Video on Valencia Street carries a DVD set containing nearly all of his short and "documentary" work for rental.

August 8, 2007, 10:54 AM

davis

Oh, I should have thought to look there. I ended up getting a used copy via Amazon UK, if I recall. By the way, for anyone interested in pursuing this: on Amazon US the translator recommends the Jonathan Cape edition.

I'll have to walk over to Lost Weekend and check out that DVD set! I caught a few of Herzog's early films at SFMOMA recently -- I think you and I crossed paths a couple of times -- and I now see why you put "documentary" in quotes. I was pleasantly surprised to see Herzog tinkering with truth and fiction way back when.

Have you seen Walking to Werner, by chance?

August 8, 2007, 01:07 PM

Brian

No, I haven't. I missed it at the Mill Valley Film Festival, and I don't think it's come around since.

Of course next week, the Herzog film I've been most anxiously anticipating a chance to see on the big screen is coming to the Castro: the Enigma of Kaspar Hauser. I own the DVD but want the celluloid experience first.

August 8, 2007, 06:12 PM

davis

That's where I saw Walking to Werner, Mill Valley. It's kind of fun to see a fan's obsession taken so such lengths, and (despite that!) he's a likable guy. Herzog handles the situation gracefully, too. His voice appears, but he doesn't. He was shooting Rescue Dawn in Thailand at the time.

Yeah, I'm hoping to see Kaspar Hauser on the big screen, too, although Stalker is at the PFA on one of those two days, and I have to see Tarkovsky. I've seen both films, but Tarkovsky for me is particularly hard to appreciate on video, so I want to take advantage of the screening.

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Mentioned in This Episode

Herzog's Feature Films

Films in Which Herzog Appears

Films of Robert Bresson

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