Werner Herzog

Werner Herzog

Born 1942-09-05 (age 83) Munich, Bavaria, Germany
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Biography

Werner Herzog (German: [ˈvɛɐ̯nɐ ˈhɛɐ̯tsoːk]; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unique talents in obscure fields, or individuals in conflict with nature. He is known for his unique filmmaking process, such as disregarding storyboards, emphasizing improvisation, and placing the cast and crew into similar situations as characters in his films.

Herzog started work on his first film Herakles in 1961, when he was nineteen. Since then he has produced, written, and directed more than sixty feature films and documentaries, such as Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974), Heart of Glass (1976), Stroszek (1977), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982), Cobra Verde (1987), Lessons of Darkness (1992), Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997), My Best Fiend (1999), Invincible (2000), Grizzly Man (2005), Encounters at the End of the World (2007), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), and Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010). He has published more than a dozen books of prose, and directed as many operas.

French filmmaker François Truffaut once called Herzog "the most important film director alive." American film critic Roger Ebert said that Herzog "has never created a single film that is compromised, shameful, made for pragmatic reasons, or uninteresting. Even his failures are spectacular." He was named one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine in 2009.

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Known For

Penguins of Madagascar
Penguins of Madagascar

2014

as Documentary Filmmaker (voice)

Jack Reacher
Jack Reacher

2012

as Zec Chelovek

Ghost Elephants
Ghost Elephants

2026

as Narrator (voice)

What Dreams May Come
Orion and the Dark
Orion and the Dark

2024

as Narrator (voice)

Grizzly Man
Grizzly Man

2005

as Self / Narrator (voice)

The Grand
The Grand

2007

as The German

Freaks of Nature
Freaks of Nature

2015

as Perfect Being (voice)

Dinotasia
Dinotasia

2012

as Narrator (voice)

50 Films to See Before You Die
Dangerous Game
Dangerous Game

1993

as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Life Itself
Life Itself

2014

as Self - Filmmaker

Close Up
Close Up

2012

as Self (archive footage)

Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds
Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds

2020

as Self - Narrator (voice)

Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer
Ballad of a Righteous Merchant
My Best Fiend
My Best Fiend

1999

as Self

Salt and Fire
Salt and Fire

2016

as Man with One Story (uncredited)

Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Cave of Forgotten Dreams

2010

as Narrator (voice)