on werner herzog

i came late to herzog's films. didn't watch his brand of cinema until fairly recently. i was aware of him and his work i was just not paying attention. i prefer his non-fiction films to his fiction works. a matter of taste, but i think he's an excellent interviewer and his subjects, his search for what he calls 'ecstatic truth', are an astonishing array of vivid humanity. herzog is interested in the depths of the human heart and our positions in our environment. another pull for me is his call, a war cry really, for poetic vision, not averting our eyes to what is in front of us. when herzog talks about poetry and poets he means actual poetry and poets and takes his examples in the likes of holderlin's wired language. another pull for me is his cautioning younger filmmakers, and older poets [like me!], not to make excuses and get your shit done because there is always a way to get it done. don't make your stay in the classroom permanent as it is necessary to get out of the library. if you have to drive a cab to pay for your film [or support your poetic obsessions] or work in an office in IT or something then there is no excuse at all. that is what you must do. so do it.