Tuesday, March 30, 2010

My Best Fiend: Klaus Kinski (1999)

Director: Werner Herzog. Cast: Klaus Kinski, Werner Herzog (narrator), Eva Mattes, Claudia Cardinale. 95 min. UK/Germany/Finland/USA. Documentary.

Please note: The title is not "My Best Friend". Because that's what Kinski was to Herzog - a fiend. Kinski , the volcano-tempered maniacal actor, had the leading role in five of Herzog's best films. I assume the reason Herzog kept craving for this crazed collaboration, was Kinski offering Herzog a physical embodiment for his own obsession (commonly shown in his films): the lone man's quest to overcome the brutality of nature. The filmmaker makes the wise decision of not posting any subtitles for Kinski's raging rants in German, as showing the rage is the point - not the rant.

(Quote by Herzog: "Every grey hair on my head, I call Kinski.")

Mo says:

2 comments:

  1. I have to see this. The quote: "Every grey hair on my head, I call Kinski." is a classic. He must have been a nightmare to work with but Kinski is always something special.

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  2. If you haven't seen their "Nosferatu the Vampyre", it's an absolute must-see. One of the best Draculas ever.

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