Fata Morgana (1971), Werner Herzog, B+
I probably wouldn’t argue too much with someone who called Bullshit! on this movie. It is exactly what it looks like — a bunch of footage shot in the Sahara, cut together with a weird soundtrack. That’s it. Today, with your digital cameras and your apple computers, it isn’t *that* hard to do something like this. But in 1971, no one was doing it. At least, no one was doing it well. So what we have is remarkable desert footage, then some stuff with a scientist and a lizard, then lounge act, then more desert, set to a reading (in German) of the Mayan creation myth, three cuts from Leonard Cohen’s first album and the guitar solo from Blind Faith’s “Sea of Joy.” (It took me a lot of sleuthing to recall what that solo was.) I dunno. … somehow it all works for me.
I witnessed a real struggle while watching Fata Morgana. To my left sat a young guy, a kid really, with a friend. Both were enthused cineastes. As soon as the lights dimmed, though. . .maybe he’d been up late the night before, maybe the air conditioning and the dark room were too much. . .but the guy was constantly falling asleep. Out of the corner of my eye I would see him desperately try to keep himself awake, then the eyelids would fall, then then neck would bob and then he’d spring back up again.
Hey — I know it is tough. Middle of the day, hot outside, cold inside, dark, soothing soundtrack in German. . .I’ve been there before! here and here
Comment by Jordan — June 3, 2007 @ 8:24 am
[...] Herzog’s first feature is deep Herzog. I’d only suggest this if you’ve tackled Fata Morgana or Heart of Glass. This movie is slow. This movie is about boredom. Seriously. A group of soldiers stationed on Crete have nothing to do. One (slowly) goes bananas from boredom. When this happens a little bit of action follows and then the movie ends. Here’s what happened to me: I turned this movie on one night and fell asleep. I turned it on the second night and fell asleep. I turned it on in the early evening and then I realized there were a lot of beautiful shots and odd, little moments I hadn’t noticed before. I’m guessing this is a good one to see in a theater. The rewards are there if you work for ‘em. [...]
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