There’s never been a better time to jump on the Werner Herzog bandwagon. His recent film, Grizzly Man, is a masterpiece that all right-minded film lovers must own on DVD. His next movie, Rescue Dawn, is a fictionalized retelling of the true events of his documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly, and it stars Christian Bale. But most of all, Werner Herzog is proving himself as some kind of Enlightened Being this past week.
First he saved Joaquin Phoenix’s life. The actor has revealed that it was Herzog who first came to help him when he rolled his car last week off the Sunset Strip. "There was this German voice saying, ‘Just relax,’" Phoenix said about his recollections after the crash. "There’s the airbag, I can’t see and I’m saying, ‘I’m fine. I am relaxed. Finally, I rolled down the window and this head pops inside. And he said, ‘No, you’re not.’ And suddenly I said to myself, ‘That’s Werner Herzog.’ There’s something so calming and beautiful about Werner Herzog’s voice."
Amazing. But not as amazing as this – Werner Herzog was giving an interview with the BBC’s Mark Kermode when a sniper shot him with an air rifle. Herzog’s response? ‘Oh, someone is shooting at us. We must go.’
Says Kermode: "He had a bruise the size of a snooker ball, with a hole in. He just carried on with the interview while bleeding quietly in his boxer shorts."
Herzog’s comment? This is the best part: "It was not a significant bullet. I am not afraid."
People of the internet, put aside your lame Chuck Norris fixation and gaze upon the true thing – Werner Herzog. Check out my interview with him from last year, and look for continuing coverage of any Herzog-related miracles.