“Centuries from now our great-great-great-grandchildren will look back at us with amazement at how we could allow such a precious achievement of human culture as the telling of a story to be shattered into smithereens by commercials, the same amazement we feel today when we look at our ancestors for whom slavery, capital punishment, burning of witches, and the inquisition were acceptable everyday events.” FeelsHumansLooksStoriesTodayFilmCultureCenturyEventsAchievementHollywoodSlaveryEverydayPunishmentBurningWitchAncestorAcceptableGrandchildrenShatteredAmazementCapital PunishmentInquisitionGreat Grandchildren Author:Werner Herzog
“When you look at the paintings at Chauvet Cave, they're not primitive or like children's little scribbles, it bursts on the scene fully accomplished and when you look through the faces of cultural history, art history, it has never gotten any better.” LooksChildrenLittlesArtFacesPaintingSceneAccomplishedPrimitiveCavesArt HistoryScribbles Author:Werner Herzog
“You have to realize that, about 20,000 years ago, there was a cataclysmic event when an entire rock face collapsed and sealed off the cave. It's a completely preserved time capsule. You've got tracks of cave bears that look like they were left yesterday, and you've got the footprint of a boy who was probably eight years old next to the footprint of a wolf.” YearsLooksFacesNextLeftRealizingBoysRocksEventsBearsYears AgoTrackEightYesterdayCavesFootprintTime Capsules Author:Werner Herzog
“I simply don't like the culture of drugs. I never liked the hippies for it. I think it was a mistake to be all the time stoned and on weed. It didn't look right and it doesn't look right today either and the damage drugs have done to civilizations are too enormous. And besides, I don't need any drug to step out of myself. I don't want them and I do not need them.” ThinkingWantNeedsLooksDoneTodayCultureMistakeStepsCivilizationDrugEnormousDamageWeedHippie Author:Werner Herzog
“You should look straight at a film; that's the only way to see one. Film is not the art of scholars but of illiterates.” WayShouldLooksArtFilmScholar Author:Werner Herzog
“The deal was we had to have people accompanying us and they would ask us not to film something [in North Korea]. For example, we wanted to film at a certain place and there happened to be a building under construction and it didn't look as fancy as the other buildings, so they wanted us to shoot where everything looked finished and made a good impression of the cityscape.” PeopleLooksMadeWantedFilmCertainAsksDealsHappenedExampleBuildingFinishedImpressionFancyConstructionKoreaNorth KoreaUnder ConstructionCityscapes Author:Werner Herzog
“I'm reminded of an interview Larry King had on his talk show with one of Michael Jackson's sisters. He's talking about how many millions she made on her latest record, and all of a sudden, she looks at him tearfully and says, "Larry, you know, I'm not interested in money or sales or songs. I'm a spiritual person." And I thought, "Oh my god..."” KnowsLooksPersonsMadeShowsSpiritualSongTalkingMillionsRecordsKingsInterviewsNot InterestedLarryTalk Shows Author:Werner Herzog
“That shot in "Into the Inferno" somehow popped up while my editor and I were viewing the footage. I immediately said, "That looks like the opening shot because the camera approaches the action very slowly and we have enough time to insert some of the main credits into it." So it was a practical choice. At the same time, you see these tiny figures standing at the rim of something, and all of a sudden, the camera rises further and you find yourself looking straight down into an inferno.” LooksSaidEnoughActionChoicesFiguresApproachShotsStandingCamerasCreditTinyPracticalsOpeningFinding YourselfEditorsEnough TimeInfernoRimsInsert Author:Werner Herzog
“When you look at my film you see footage that is unbelievably awesome and beautiful and dangerous looking. It's something that is very, very cinematic.” LooksBeautifulFilmDangerousCinematic Author:Werner Herzog
“You also can understand how to play tennis from Serena Williams, and she is awesome. I haven't seen her Masterclass but just watching her on the court - I saw some of Wimbledon on TV and there's such an awesome force in her and focus and determination and technique, you just look at her and it's awesome. If I would like to learn tennis I would immediately turn to her.” IfsLooksPlayTurnsForceSawsFocusHavensTvsDeterminationCourtTechniqueTennisWimbledon Author:Werner Herzog
“When you look at any of my films you will immediately be able to tell this is a [Werner] Herzog film. Even if you didn't have any credits, in two minutes flat you would know.” IfsKnowsLooksTwoAbleFilmMinutesCreditFlats Author:Werner Herzog
“Similar thing until today, with digital cameras you look after something like that as robust as they can be.” LooksTodayCamerasDigitalRobustDigital Cameras Author:Werner Herzog
“When I see a face, I see a face in general and I see you are curious, I see the curiosity but I don't not look after a dermatological report of your cheeks, and that's what you see when you're too high-resolution. And now desperately in post-production, in color grading, they are trying to wipe out the precision of the dermatological report.” TryingLooksFacesColorCuriosityProductionsCuriousPostsReportsResolutionCheeksWipePrecisionPost Production Author:Werner Herzog
“Look into the eyes of a chicken and you will see real stupidity. It is a kind of bottomless stupidity, a fiendish stupidity. They are the most horrifying, cannibalistic and nightmarish creatures in the world.” WorldLooksKindRealEyeCreaturesStupidityChickens Author:Werner Herzog
“For a moment the feeling crept over me that my work, my vision, is going to destroy me, and for a fleeting moment I let myself take a long, hard look at myself, something I would not otherwise do--out of instinct, on principle, out of self-preservation--look at myself with objective curiosity to see whether my vision has not destroyed me already. I found it comforting to note that I was still breathing.” LooksLongStillsSelfHardMomentsFeelingsFoundVisionPrinciplesNotesInstinctCuriosityObjectivesDestroyedBreathingPreservationFleetingComfortingSelf PreservationFleeting Moments Book:Conquest of the useless: reflections from the making of Fitzcarraldo Source: Conquest of the useless: reflections from the making of Fitzcarraldo
“Well they are very frightening for me because their stupidity is so flat. You look into the eyes of a chicken and you lose yourself in a completely flat, frightening stupidity. They are like a great metaphor for me... I kind of love chicken, but they frighten me more than any other animal.” WellsLooksKindEyeLosesAnimalMetaphorStupidityFlatsChickensFrighteningLosing YourselfKinds Of Love Author:Werner Herzog
“The trees are in misery, and the birds are in misery. I don’t think they sing. They just screech in pain. …Taking a close look at what’s around us, there is some sort of harmony: it’s the harmony of overwhelming and collective murder.” ThinkingLooksPainTreeBirdMurderHarmonyMiseryCollectivesOverwhelming Author:Werner Herzog
