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 werner herzog interview
 to access audio and video on collective you need real player.If you go down to the woods today... Cinéma-vérité is an academic term used to describe cinema that captures reality in all its mind-numbing banality. The term used to be most often applied to Frederick Wiseman, whose films would often stretch to over four hours. Then one day Wiseman turned round and said that cinéma-vérité was a crap term because documentary filmmakers, as soon as they edit the footage, make choices based on personal preference, which then turns the film into fiction. Then along came Bavarian filmmaker Werner Herzog, who took this concept further by not even trying to bed his documentaries in a notion of reality; a precursor of sorts to TV’s docudramas. As with all trendy cinematic trends, from the Nouvelle Vague to Dogme 95, he wrote a manifesto – The Minnesota Declaration.  Herzog says, “I’ve always postulated, not just in documentaries but in feature films from very early on, that reality is a superficial layer. What we should be out for is a deep strata of truth.” His latest film, Grizzly Man, sees Herzog using footage shot by Timothy Treadwell, a man who thought it was a good idea to play with grizzly bears every summer until, after 13 summers on one Alaskan nature reserve, a grizzly (predictably) decided to have him for dinner. Herzog uses this footage for about 50 per cent of the film. The rest of is taken up with the director revisiting the scene of Treadwell’s death and interviewing friends and family. The mesmerizing result should not to be missed. Herzog condemns the antics of Treadwell, who defied warnings to live with the bears, yet this is combined with an admiration for his fearlessness and guile. Herzog claims, “Of course I had to give him credit because he has left footage of great intensity and beauty, something that no money on this planet and no money from a Hollywood studio could ever achieve. You do not get the kind of footage Timothy shot with a Hollywood studio behind you.”  Part of the reason Timothy was in Alaska was down to his failed acting career. He was also a recovering drug addict, and with the grizzly bears he saw an opportunity to make a nature docudrama in which he appeared as the Tarzan character. As such he is a typical Werner Herzog subject, in the vein of Klaus Kinski, Bruno S and Little Dieter. The legendary Herzog says that as soon as he heard Treadwell’s story, “I knew that he was part of my family of characters.” And Herzog, of course, is still the daddy.
Kaleem Aftab
Grizzly Man, on selected release 03 February 06.
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