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Werner Herzog

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Werner Herzog.
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Werner Herzog.

Werner Herzog (born Werner Stipetic on September 5, 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, actor and opera director.

He is often associated with the German New Wave movement (also called New German Cinema), along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Volker Schlöndorff, Wim Wenders and others. His films often feature heroes with impossible dreams or people with unique talents in obscure fields.

Contents

Early life

Herzog was born Werner Stipetic (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation "Stipetich") in Munich to a Yugoslavian father and German mother, and grew up in a remote village in Bavaria. When he was thirteen he and his family shared an apartment with Klaus Kinski. About this, Herzog recalled, "I knew at that moment that I would be a film director and that I would direct Kinski".

The same year, Herzog was told to sing in front of his class at school and he adamantly refused. He was almost expelled for this and until the age of eighteen listened to no music, sang no songs and studied no instruments.

In the early 1960s Herzog worked as a welder in a steel factory to help fund his first films.

He received his post-secondary education at the University of Munich and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In 1967 Herzog married Martje Grohmann. Their son, Rudolph Amos Achmed, was born in 1973. In 1980, daughter Hanna Mattes (mother Eva Mattes) was born. In 1987, Herzog married Christine Maria Ebenberger. Their son, Simon David Alexander Herzog, was born in 1989. Herzog is at present (2006) married to Lena Herzog.

Films and Criticism

Herzog's films have received considerable critical acclaim and achieved popularity on the art house circuit. They have also been the subject of controversy in regard to their themes and messages, especially the circumstances surrounding their creation. A notable example is Fitzcarraldo, in which the obsessiveness of the central character is mirrored by the director in the making of his film.

Herzog directed five films starring the German actor Klaus Kinski: ', ', Woyzeck, Fitzcarraldo, and Cobra Verde. In 1999 he directed and narrated the documentary film My Best Fiend, a retrospective on his often rocky relationship with Kinski.

Trivia

Quotes

"...centuries from now our great-great-great-grandchildren will look back at us with amazement at how we could allow such a precious achievement of human culture as the telling of a story to be shattered into smithereens by commercials, the same amazement we feel today when we look at our ancestors for whom slavery, capital punishment, burning of witches, and the inquisition were acceptable everyday events." -- Werner Herzog

Awards

Herzog and his films have won and been nominated for many awards over the years. Most notably, Herzog won the best director award for Fitzcarraldo at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.

Grizzly Man, directed by Herzog, won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival

Complete Works

Film

Director

TV

Opera (director)

Actor Filmography

References

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
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