The Wildest Director Ever - Werner Herzog

Werner Herzog, the wildest director ever. From pulling a 300 ton boat up a hill in Fitzcarraldo, to hypnotizing the entire cast for a film, to eating his own shoe... and collaborating with Klaus Kinski 5 times. There are no limits to his way of filmmaking where the ideas for his films are crazy, but the stories behind the scenes are even crazier. With hits like Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Nosferatu the Vampyre, Fitzcarraldo, Grizzly Man and Cave of Forgotten Dreams he's racked up quite the filmography to be considered one of the greats.
In this video we'll be going over all the wild stories from Werner Herzog's past film and documentary productions chronologically, briefly going over his encounters with Kinski. This will include his controversial start of the career with Even Dwarfs Started Small, the infamous production of Fitzcarraldo and his intriguing documentary topics with Grizzly Man. And we'll also go over things that happened outside of his films such as hypnotizing chickens...
How to hypnotizing chickens: • How to hypnotize a chi...
Werner Herzog eats his shoe: • 1970s UC Theatre, Cali...
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:56 - Who Is He?
02:51 - Controversial?
09:34 - Shoes... Yum
13:43 - Pulling Boats
18:28 - Bears & Caves
Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski. Aguirre, the Wrath of God. Nosferatu the Vampyre. Woyzeck. Fitzcarraldo. Cobra Verde. Burden of Dreams. Heart of Glass. Even Dwarfs Started Small. Fata Morgana. La Soufrière. Little Dieter Needs to Fly. Wings of Hope. Grizzly Man. Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Joaquin Phoenix Car Crash. Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe.
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#wernerherzog #director #insane

[@DioBrandoWRYYYYYY]

my mom had some video lectures of Herzog's and Herzog would straight up just teach people how to pick locks and give suggestions on how to trick local authorities if you're filming without a permit. he's crazy, but he's surprisingly functional for a crazy man

[@kaatskillserenade]

I don’t think Herzog is crazy at all. He’s just lived outside the social norms of consumer capitalist society and has a different perspective and his own very refined code of ethics. He does however recognize power of story and consciously fosters legends about himself because it affords him the attention and resources he needs to do his work and keep his audience enrapt.

[@jpdjpd8134]

​@@kaatskillserenadellĺ

[@jpdjpd8134]

7

[@midnightteapot5633]

Herzog's documentary about the fires of Kuwait was an unforgettable masterpiece.

[@BoringOats]

i love to play music to that on mute when i have people over. "Dopesmoker" by the band Sleep goes well.

[@ericfurst6091]

When we talk about crazy directors, there is Copolla, Friedkin, Kubrick and there is Herzog. His whole persona is just amazing and my god, his voice and accent. 👍 You have to be a crazy director, when you work 5x times with Klaus Kinski, voluntarily. Pure madness. 🤣😁🤣😁

[@uselessDM]

Werner Herzog and Christian Bale seems like a great combination tbh.

[@Half_giraffe]

Herzog wrote and directed Rescue Dawn starring Christian Bale. Release in '06

[@Wallyworld30]

Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo" is free to watch on KZbin in HD. It's his best film truly incredible. I didn't think I'd ever find a Herzog film better than Aguirra but pulling that giant ass steam boat over a mountain is literally insane! Perfect picture!

[@filmnobelpreis]

Aguirre + Fitzcarraldo + The Burden of Dreams triple feature for new year's

[@Hurtdeer]

really the only criticism i can give of this recap of herzog's life is that you submitted me to 20 minutes of footage of him without letting me hear his wonderful voice even once

[@FilmStack]

That’s our biggest regret as well. If it was possible, I would’ve loved to have him narrate the whole thing

[@amarug]

I am not a movie or TV person, so I had never heard of him. I watched a few episodes of the "Mandalorian" because a friend forced me (until he believed me that I was not interested), but the only thing that stuck out was Herzogs character. His charisma instantly had me, like unreal. So even in such a small meaningless side-role in a rather boring TV series, he was able to capture my attention. Now I want to watch his movies...

[@liltick102]

I have dug up everything there is pertinent to Herzog out there - I absolutely love him and his wonderful work. He is my favourite man alive.

[@kaatskillserenade]

Herzog is the only living role model. He’s apparently perfect.

[@arthurarakelov8317]

I’m totally sure that if Herzog decided that he needs to kill a person to make his next movie he 100% would do it

[@FilmStack]

🤣

[@user-to2gh7sg3l]

Huh?

[@vinny142]

And people would praise him for daring to do it. Because people are stupid.

[@SamP-by7iv]

​@@vinny142Well, it would be pretty baller.

[@Seb30able]

Not quite. While filming Fitzcaraldo, indian stand-ins proposed to actually kill Kinski, him bring such an a--hole. He refused.

[@itheuserfirst3186]

Herzog is the most German man of all time.

[@austinsavage5962]

I was expecting the dude to be kind of a pos but man hes kinda just a legend

[@ashleybrown4754]

He is the good kind of crazy

[@brick6347]

His death row documentary was fascinating, and coincidentally one of the featured murderers met his end this week.

[@Nick_CF]

That was a great film

[@carlossaraiva8213]

I have nothing but pure admiration for Werner Herzog.

[@clintstewart5545]

Stroszek was one of the best movies I've ever seen very sad, I watched because once reading wikipedia of Ian Curtis that was the last movie he seen before commiting suicide , I understood why he did after watching that movie great movie in my opinion !!!

[@liltick102]

“All my characters belong to the same family, whether they be non-fictional or fictional. They have no shadows, they are without pasts, they all emerge from the darkness. I have really thought of my films as being part of one big work that I have concentrated on the whole time. The characters are desperate, solitary rebels, without knowledge and with no language to communicate. They know their rebellion is doomed to failure, but they continue without respite, wounded, struggling on their own without assistance” Herzog on Herzog / ~Werner Herzog, A Guide For The Perplexed w Paul Cronin (great read, mild paraphrase)

[@78deathface]

I could listen to Herzog talk all day

[@WheezyLobo]

Good stuff thanks for the vid. Subscribed!

[@user-jo8nj]

very nice overview, thanks!

[@almightysosa3007]

I honestly don’t think this man fears death at all. One of the most interesting men in film that’s for sure.

[@kuribayashi84]

Oh, I only wish he had a bigger role in _Mandalorian._ He stole every scene he was in. _"What exquisite craftsmanship. Its amazing how beautfiful Beskar can be when forged by its ancestral artisans..._ _Can I offer you a libation, to celebrate the closing of our shared narrative?"_

[@carlossaraiva8213]

I agree. But i think he did demanded his role to be very limited.

[@Myst0WL]

So funny ive been binging werner content this morning and this just popped up!

[@FilmStack]

Haha awesome! What kind of stuff have you been watching?

[@manuelacosta9463]

Herzog had to be a bit out of it himself for working with and being 'friends' with walking hurricane of madness, Klaus Kinski.

[@kingfish2703]

I'm not a huge fan of his movies, but his documentaries are always unique and beautiful in a way

[@Nexowl]

I mean, he was able to work with Klaus Kinski, so he has to be crazy.

[@FirstMetalHamster]

He is one of germany's few national treasures.

[@TwistedTransistor88]

You don't know anything about Germany then

[@FirstMetalHamster]

@@TwistedTransistor88 or it might be a fucking joke.

[@stadbab]

just so you know, it’s pronounced ‘verner’ - the w sound doesn’t exist in german. amazing video!

[@thefilmseeker]

God, I love this madman! Wonderful video!

[@FilmStack]

Thank you! ☺️

[@kingjoe3rd]

I first really became aware of him when he was in a mockumentary about himself, and it showed him and his wife in their LA home having friends over and stuff like that. I actually thought he was a comedic actor at first because he was so good in the role. I have no idea what this film is called or even if it was made by him. Now that I think about it, it may not have been a comedy. Was I high?

[@FilmStack]

Ha! Now I want to know what this documentary was, I'd love to check it out. If you find out, or if anyone knows, let us know!

[@2adamast]

Incident at Loch Ness ?

[@CatFish107]

Ok, I just about missed it, but a worker intentionally amputating their own limb has to be one of the wildest dang on set incidents ever.

[@AnimalMother98]

Amazing video, should cover Tarkovsky

[@ggggg77273]

15:08 Yeah, that checks out.

[@michelleaguirre6412]

Thanks great content ❤

[@arjanpetersen]

the Kinski collab is insane. Those dudes would murder each other

[@mitlaufer4798]

Gasherbrum - Der Leuchtende Berg is my favorite documentary of his

[@kaljic1]

Back in the day, there was a movie event in Berkeley where Werner Herzog and Les Blank appeared. Herzog vowed to eat his shoe. And yes, in this event, he cooked it and ATE IT!!!!

[@SamP-by7iv]

Now I know why there was that shot of a chicken crate falling down the mountain at the beginning of Aguirre.

[@stevetrent4638]

I’m 33 years old and I’ve never had a hero in my life but I think Herzog might be the first lol

[@happy_92]

Cobra Verde is also a very insightful film.

[@lukesams3349]

What a fascinating man

[@blankpool]

I can only imagine him describing the flavor of the shoe. "The taste is like that of all the atrocities that were in harmony to create this utilitarian object that was never meant to be consumed by anything other than the earth when we are no more."

[@kidkangaroo5213]

You're way too good at that

[@annalisavajda252]

I don't think I have seen any of his films other than his Bad Lieutenant with Nic Cage and Val Kilmer but sure a man of his age from Europe may have a different artistic attitude than most Western directors Bela Tarr does too. David Lynch has said art houses are dead now anyway cinema has changed especially for surrealists. He went into some jungle to film one picture that's a difficult location just ask Copella or Stone about filming Apocalypse Now and Platoon in Vietnam too.

[@zacharykaddouri-champagne2034]

Wha- that man was wild

[@IloveOtherPplsMsry]

Herzog may be the most based living director

[@marcus6918]

truly the most alpha sigma dude out there

[@jiga6832]

10:31 why do I have a feeling that this is the least questionable thing he has done 😂😂😂

[@samvandam1766]

I have seen some of his Documentaries.. great stuff. But this stuff is Crazy😅

[@tomace194]

The chicken thing is awesome.

[@ThalliumInfinitum]

I don't know much about Werner Herzog other than he despises chickens, but this video reminded me of something. As a kid, I saw the dinosaur documentary Dinotasia. The thing about Dinotasia is that it's comprised of recycled footage of another Dino Doc, dinosaur revolution. The only major difference between them is that Dinotasia got Herzog to narrate. He didn't even give scientific facts about the dinosaurs either. He just would say something nihilistic about death and creation's meaning. So you'd have footage of a Shunosaurus getting high off mushrooms while Herzog says shit like, "The beauty of life is only eclipsed by its totality. Yet there is no one to experience it. No poets, no artists, just the all encompassing, Final Death..." Herzog wasn't even involved with the production of either shows! They just randomly hired him for Dinotasia to speak like a Philosophy professor over an Allosaursus getting a smackdown from a Sauropod. Also, great vid!

[@agedstring]

What’s up with the weird line cut offs?

[@BubblyToast]

I really like ‘Wings of Hope’. Juliane Koepcke story is so fascinating. Her post crash story is also amazing. Check it out!

[@bandersnatchbigfootexplore549]

No it’s definitely the director of the movie roar he makes herzog seem like the least craziest guy on the planet.

[@mori1bund]

Oh yeah! The story of ROAR is really unbelievably crazy!!!

[@AFryingPan]

I love Fitzcaraldo and Aguirre

[@user-to2gh7sg3l]

Say this with a Herzog accent: "The stark and off-ten sobering mundane authenticity of the human condition." Amazing director and great films though, don't get me wrong....

[@necronomitom]

What's with all the sloppy audio editing

[@matthendricks9666]

The amazonian natives were scared as hell of Herzog. Because he stayed so calm with Klaus Kinski. They offered him to kill Kinski. He obviously denied.

[@kaatskillserenade]

The story about Herzog stealing the camera is a lot like Bob Dylan stealing a pile of rare records when he was a college student. He later said he felt a right to take them, that he was an “expiditionary”.

[@connycontainer9459]

If I remember correctly he also did a pretty good sci-fi series during the 70's. Don't ask me about the plot though.

[@BrandonToy]

He is also an actor

[@perrodetokio]

👏👏👏👏👏

[@RatWorldMedia]

I dont think he necessarily has anything against chickens. I genuinely believe he loves them and takes great joy in their "stupidity" just like his quote about the amazon being a chaotic and godless place. He doesnt hate the amazon or nature, he was just stating the factual nature of the suffering within it and went on to say he "loved it". ❤

[@sarou3457]

13:45 best parts here xD

[@FilmStack]

One of the most wild movie productions!

[@evanmcdonald9134]

“The same actor who got run over caught on fire” Holy shit imagine being that guy

[@anthonyt219]

If you guys like a low key comedy film, watch incident at loch ness. Its a mockumentary. Werner was great in it. You could tell he enjoyed himself in it along with the director

[@maxiql9565]

He got shot? Lmaooo Hes alive? What a legend

[@filmnobelpreis]

Herzog didn't steal a camera to make "Aguirre", he got one from Alex Kluge.

[@user-to2gh7sg3l]

Keep an eye for Herzog next work featuring Adam Sandler and Sinbad......

[@TrekMTBikeRider]

2004’s Incident at Loch Ness…. Enough said!

[@ytubeanon]

I'm looking forward to Herzog's new Batman trilogy

[@haiio1348]

the coolest :D

[@liltick102]

You said 20 films, but he claims over 70. Most sources are at variance and inconsistent about that - but he’s steadily talked about the number he was at, over the years, unto the present 60-70 odd. 20 seems definitely incorrect (albeit the sources I’m talking about / even if they’re him - might be including what you disclude as a feature film)

[@FilmStack]

Yeah when we said 20, we mean not including his documentaries and short films. His documentaries make up most of his filmography.

[@LaurieValdez-zk3dy]

WOW who knew.

[@TheGahta]

i want disney to give him just a cheque, two big planes full of crew and have him see what can be done 🤣

[@shortclips4023]

He played a bad guy in Jack Reacher even as an actor he has a screen presence

[@TheHomelessDreamer]

Hiring Klaus Kinski once is understandable. Hiring him a second time is absurd. Hiring him 5 times is insanity defined. All this video needed to say was: "He hired Kinski FIVE TIMES!" and then be uploaded. Watch the Kinski vid on this channel, trust me.

Ok, I need to point this out because now I've heard you say it wrong in two full videos and it's getting on my nervs. AGUIRRE is a spanish name, and as such, when two Rs are together they sound like a hard R. Put the tongue on the front of the palate and let it reverb a little bit.

[@FilmStack]

Sorry! We try our best to pronounce names correctly, but don't always get it right. I appreciate the tip! Thank you

[@GamesWithBrainz]

3:18 sounds like a f×cking snuff film lmao

[@zadehgenerous9331]

No shout out to Julien Donkey Boy?

[@p_ttown1979]

if chaotic neutral was a director

[@uzetaab]

I don't think I have ever watched anything by this guy. Too gritty for me. Great video though, was still very interesting.

[@carlossaraiva8213]

You could start with Nosferatu or Bad Lieutrnant:Port Of Call New Orlleans as those are among his most accessible movies. The later in particular is practically a comedy.

[@theholymackerel072]

Herzog has always been trolling us, always one step ahead like Kauffman was.

[@Skaatje]

*"A person of short statue"* How can we take anyone serious if they're already scared of using normal words?

[@phantomfire8228]

14:53

[@chump3947]

I have seen a few of his documentaries and they're very interesting. I won't watch any in the future, as I think his past actions have bordered on Sociopathic.

[@samuellee481]

his one word of advice for being a good filmmaker is always and forever will be: read

[@Gileraec1devil]

Hes from Switzerland 😊 not Germany thats two different things....100 percent your from Usa right?😊

[@ghostrights9314]

Theodore Roosevelt would have liked this guy a lot.

[@yp3424]

I think, Herzog (81 years old), would have made a big success of making a film about crappy contemporary Greece, a country on the brink of collapse. With the vast majority of the cretinous population being illiterate, schizophrenic or drug addicted, a real chaotic situation, which is Herzog's (and previously, F. Fellini's) very element, literally, a great attraction & fun for the audiences, worldwide.

[@sebastianalegria3401]

Herzog, apart from being a crazy director, is also known by hiring constantly Klaus Kinski in his movies whose relationship was based on love & hate.

[@jondraw]

animal cruelty an obligatory quality of "genius" filmmakers. and i love how this video mentions it as if it was nothing well, klaus kinkski abused his daughter and everyone considers him a legend values, who needs them, right?

[@Gileraec1devil]

Hes not German hes a swissmen😊

[@robbie_]

I'll be honest, I've never liked the man or any of his film.

[@WesleyNiman]

So he thought he was justified in stealing because he needed it to film? That still doesn't justify stealing lmao. That's just poor moral relativism.

[@dano511]

You’re boring

[@vinny142]

Herzog is a good example of how we praise famous people because they are famous, not for what they actually do. If anybody with a lesser name did the exact same, we'd call for them to be locked up.

[@thenablade858]

I don’t think so. Most people think Herzog is insane too. It’s just more shocking and entertaining because he’s a successful director of films and documentaries.

[@carlossaraiva8213]

Herzog was not born famous, he became famous. Dont mistake him for the kardashians.

[@eastbrecht]

Don't judge Kinski too harshly. He was born 1926 and seriously traumatized by what he experienced on the battlefield during his time in the army and growing up in post war Germany.

[@Master-Mirror]

Loads of Germans went through the same and didn't end up sexually abusing their daughters.

[@Joeks0303]

Yeah, Kinski went through hell but many other Germans did, that man is genuinely a monster

[@2adamast]

Kinsky can create a Kinsky biography like anyone else.

[@dylanmonstrum1538]

19:13 The man is just... He's built different.

[@dylanmonstrum1538]

15:08 all jokes aside, this really is the most unbelievably soothing thing. It's like being back in the womb. Maybe you subconsciously link it back to being a baby or something?

[@robertmiles1603]

the man willing to go the extra distance WILL get the extra results. look at kubrick. scared the shit outta shelly duvalle so her reaction to nicholson acting crazy was genuine. thats what we're talkin about here