Werner Herzog Collection

Customer Reviews:

A must for Herzog fans.......2007-05-30

With or without Klaus Kinski, Werner Herzog takes us into strange realms of the human spirit. This collection is eclectic, wonderful, and an absolute must for Herzog fans. Hypnotized actors, evil little people, gorgeous, capable Eva Mattes, and the indescribable Bruno S. make up this disturbing, brilliant collection. Ann Doreen

Wonderful films, Anchor Bay has a few problems.......2006-04-17

These are stunning films. "The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser" is one of the classics; the shot of the rye field in the wind alone is worth the price of admission. It's good that Anchor Bay is emphasizing that they'll rectify defective disks, though, because problems abound. Thanks to an earlier reviewer for posting their complaints URL! On my copy of "Kaspar Hauser" the commentary simply won't turn off (and it's not that I haven't figured out how, because it turns off on the other disks). Then occasionally it turns off all by itself, but if you try to get the subtitles, it turns back on -- so you can't watch the film WITH subtitles but WITHOUT commentary. Exasperating! While I was fiddling with commentaries, however, I managed to watch the whole of "Heart of Glass" with commentary. "Heart of Glass" is not the most accessible film -- not because, as Herzog says, it's slow, but because hypnotized actors are more like zombies than actors. But the film with the commentary on is the most surreal, fascinating experience -- the stories behind the making of the film are an artwork in themselves. The same is true of "Kaspar Hauser" -- an unintended benefit of the disk problem. Providing Anchor Bay makes good on their defective disks, this is a great set.

Lost & Found: "Fata Morgana" .......2005-12-29

I've encountered a snag with "Fata Morgana" as well-- in my case, it was missing entirely. However, I contacted Anchor Bay's feedback department (http://www.anchorbayentertainment.com/index.asp?p=FAQ_Problem) and they sent me a fully functional DVD pretty quickly. I'm glad they did, as it's a gorgeous piece well worth seeing.

Manufacturing defect?.......2005-08-03

Has anyone else had a problem with 'Lessons of Darkness/Fata Morgana'? I've tried two different copies of this box set and the same few minutes at the end of Fata Morgana won't play. It skips and goes back to the DVD menu.

Regardless of that, the box set is worth it. An amazing collection of films, well put together. I want to see the end of 'Fata Morgana', but the other six movies are spectacular.

Werner Herzog - An Unconventional Study.......2005-03-14

Those that are new to the world of Werner Herzog are advised to stay away from this boxset until they discover his collaborations with actor Klaus Kinski... The HERZOG/KINSKI boxset (also from Anchor Bay) is essential, and should be your first exposure to this challenging director's work.

Those of you that have seen his more famous works (AGUIRRE, NOSFERATU, FITZCARRALDO, etc.) and want to explore further into Herzog's catalogue, then this is the ideal boxset. It's important to note, though, that it's a fairly unconventional series of films that vary wildly from style and genre.

There are only two "conventional" films in this boxset and those are THE ENIGMA OF KASPAR HAUSER and STROSZEK. Despite the fact that both films have fairly linear plots, they often slip into the director's notorious weirdness (the final few minutes of STROSZEK for instance).

There are three documentaries in this boxset. LITTLE DIETER NEEDS TO FLY is the most straightfoward of the bunch but features a riveting story of wartime survival. LESSONS OF DARKNESS is about the burning of the oil fields in Iraq, and it features an almost subliminal science-fiction approach to the material (if I wasn't told about it in the liner notes, I don't think I would have picked it up on my first viewing). FATA MORGANA is certainly a strange film, the genesis of which came about Herzog's desire to film mirages in the desert.

Rounding out the package are the two feature length experimental films, and the real highlight of this boxset. HEART OF GLASS is a bizarre twist on a local folk tale in which the entire cast (with the exception of one character) performed under hypnosis... the effect is startling and quite eerie. EVEN DWARFS STARTED SMALL is my favorite of the director's non-Kinski films, and simply defies explanation... dwarfs, camels, cars riding around in circles, chickens. It's all an exercise in absurdist anarchy, and you simply can't stop watching it.

Recommended for fans of the surreal.

Average customer rating:

A science-fiction elegy about demented colonialism
The filmmaker of the edge conditions!
Darkness indeed
Masterpiece
A Haunting and Hypnotic Masterpiece

Lessons of Darkness / Fata Morgana
Starring: Eugen Des Montagnes , Lotte Eisner , James William Gledhill , and Wolfgang von Ungern-Sternberg
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000059PPP
Release Date: 2002-01-08

Description

Lessons of Darkness shows the disaster of the Kuwaiti oil fields in flames after the Gulf War. This comes packaged with a special bonus DVD of Fata Morgana, which also takes a special non-linear look at the beauty of the Sahara Desert.

Customer Reviews:

A science-fiction elegy about demented colonialism.......2006-07-30

" Fata morgana " means mirage, a metaphore used by german filmmaker Werner Herzog to show us our decadent world as a phantasm, connecting in a very personal way with the pessimist and romantic philosophy of Schopenhauer and a mayan ancient myth that explain the world as a creation that has not been finished. " Fata morgana " is at the same time a disheartened and mesmerezing movie: during the two first parts of the film Herzog blends apocalyptic and ghostly images of Sahara desert ( animals skeletons burned by the sun; tumbledown airplanes in the middle of nowhere )with segments of the mayan myth of Creation ( the " Pupul-Vuh" ) narrated by prestigious cinema essayist Lotte Eissner. The third and last part, ironically entitled " The golden age ", of this shatteredly lyrical movie introduces several sardonic and bizarre vignettes as that one of a west scientist dressed with a picturesque clothing to fit to the new environment holding a lizard, a creature older than man. The message is clear: man is shown by Herzog as an alien; as a grotesque creature that has broken the eerie order of nature in the name of cosmic boredom. In Herzog's words: " Fata morgana" is a "science-fiction elegy about demented colonialism" ( 1 )

" Lessons of darkness " is a haunting documentary shot in Kuwait where Herzog follows the traces of the disasters perpetrated during the Gulf war. ( 2 )

Full-frame ( 1 ) / Widescreen edition ( 2 ). Extras: biofilmography of Werner Herzog; Herzog commentaries about " Fata morgana "

The filmmaker of the edge conditions!.......2005-06-01

Werner Herzog has been possibly the most intrepid director I have ever known. He likes to drown in deep waters where the edge conditions are present to break the unthinkable limits.
And this a powerful statement. Fata Morgana is a true jiurney to the desert's sands and still more. He filmed too a very special document around a vulcano just hours before to make eruption in 1977.
So this is an important document; visual and existential.

Darkness indeed.......2003-10-12

This is a sad and eerie film, in some ways similar to those of Godfrey Reggio. Werner Herzog and a camera crew toured Kuwait and environs in the wake of the Gulf War and documented the destruction (both physical and human) wrought by Saddam Hussein's armies in the oil fields and by the bombing of strategic targets. But instead of presenting a straightforward story about a historical event, Herzog created a science-fiction parable. The entire movie has a strange, detached tone; we see horrendous destruction, rooms full of torture equipment, and victims of brutality, but there are no cinematic clues about how the 'aliens' who supposedly made this movie feel about these things; their attitude is implied rather than stated. There is no need to play up the events; seeing them is enough.

"Fata Morgana" is similar in some ways, but it is more disconnected and humorous, portraying another trip-- this time through northern Africa. And, like "Lessons of Darkness", it manages to portray Earth as a particularly weird planet. An especially interesting point is Herzog's commentary about the mirages that he filmed; we can see that there is a bus (for example) in the distance, but Herzog tells us that when they went to the place where the bus should have been, they could see that there was nothing for miles around... "Fata Morgana" is not as cohesive as "Lessons of Darkness", but its tone is much lighter.

Masterpiece.......2003-09-12

No aspect of Lessons of Darkness can be praised too highly. What I'd like to know is, how can I find out the artists who performed the various musical works? Herzog has chosen the most sublime renditions of his sublime selection: Verdi's "Recordare" from the Requiem, and similarly the best of Strauss, Wagner and so on. I'd like to gt the same recordings. Any help? Thanks in advance: send to johnwood@umich.edu

A Haunting and Hypnotic Masterpiece.......2003-07-02

Fata Morgana is an absolute masterpiece. It's Werner Herzog's most unconventional film and the most bizzare film I've ever seen. It doesn't have a plot or story. Instead, we're presented with a brilliant collection of images, words and music woven together by a master filmmaker. Fata Morgana is not a documentary either. Most of the people in this film are directed and given lines to read. It has some of the most beautiful and haunting images ever commited to film. Herzog photographs actual mirages and we see cars and people floating around in the middle of the desert who aren't actually there but hundreds of miles away reflected due to the heated strata of air. All of the tracking shots were done with a camera mounted on top of a VW van that Werner Herzog drove himself. The use of music in this movie is amazing; from Leonard Cohen, Mozart, Blind Faith and the Third Ear Band. Imagine Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey taking place in the desert instead of outerspace. Fata Morgana is so hypnotic that it has the ability to make you feel as though your spirit has left your body. This film is a must see and is not recommended for conformists who've been forced fed a steady diet of Hollywood-commercial fast food movies. It will change the way you view films. Rating: 10 out of 10.

Lessons of Darkness / Fata Morgana [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]

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Lessons of Darkness / Fata Morgana [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

This film shows the disaster of the Kuwaitian oil fields in flames. In contrast to the common documentary film there are no comments and few interviews. What must have been the hell itself is presented to the viewer in such beautiful sights and beautiful music that one has to be fascinated by it. The German title translates 'lessons in darkness'.

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