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.