“Ten years ago in Antarctica shooting "Encounters at the End of the World," I met a very fine volcanologist from Cambridge University [Clive Oppenheimer] and we kept talking about doing a film and all of a sudden it became serious when he hinted at the possibility to film in North Korea.” WorldYearsEndsFilmTalkingPossibilitySeriousFineMetsTenYears AgoUniversityShootingEncountersEnd Of The WorldKoreaNorth KoreaCambridgeAntarcticaCambridge University Author:Werner Herzog
“Everything you see in North Korea, it's all propaganda, but it's all connected to the volcano.” ConnectedPropagandaKoreaNorth KoreaVolcanoes Author:Werner Herzog
“Well, it had to be about the stories and the people who live under the volcano, what kind of new gods do they create? What sort of demons? And of course North Korea falls clearly into this category since the socialist revolution at the end of the Second World War. Somehow they adopted the myth of the power and dynamics of their volcano.” PeopleWorldWellsKindWarEndsStoriesFallCoursesRevolutionMythWar Of The WorldsDemonCategoriesSocialistAdoptedKoreaNorth KoreaSecond World WarDynamicsVolcanoes Author:Werner Herzog
“I was able to persuade them to let me shoot in areas that were beyond the volcano itself. Beyond the joint scientific program between Cambridge University and North Korean scientists. I was able to film in a kindergarten, subway, other things you would not normally be allowed to do.” AbleFilmAreasProgramScientistLet MeUniversityJointsNorth KoreaKoreanSubwayKindergartenVolcanoesCambridgeNorth KoreanCambridge University 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 couldn't roam wildly and speak secretly with villagers [in North Korea]. No way you could do that. And honestly, I didn't even try. I was realistic of what I could do and yet persuaded them into accepting numerous things that I shouldn't have filmed.” WayTryingSpeakAcceptingHonestlyRealisticKoreaNorth Korea Author:Werner Herzog
“Netflix knew I was going to North Korea and Ethiopia and Iceland. They saw the film and liked it and that was that.” FilmSawsKoreaNorth KoreaNetflixEthiopiaIceland Author:Werner Herzog
“North Korea has a very striking mythology there. It is influencing the whole nation.” WholeNationsInfluenceMythologyKoreaNorth Korea Author:Werner Herzog
“Gaining trust is not difficult for me. I needed to gain the trust of the North Korean supervisors.” DifficultNeededGainsNorth KoreaKoreanNorth KoreanSupervisors Author:Werner Herzog
“It's very strange, for example, in North Korea where the volcano at the Chinese border is some sort of the mythical birthplace of the Korean people.” PeopleExampleStrangeChineseBordersKoreaNorth KoreaKoreanVolcanoesBirthplace Author:Werner Herzog
“In the communist revolution in North Korea, when they threw out the Japanese occupiers, they claimed the power in the dynamic of this volcano for their revolution, saying that this is at the center of the dynamics of our revolution. Everything that you encounter - you don't have, for example, any advertisements, you don't have anything like that anywhere in the country - if you see anything it would be propaganda, and propaganda always inevitably comes back to the volcano. It's always including the volcano. You see the new leader and standing behind him you see the volcano.” IfsCountryWould BeBehindsLeaderExampleRevolutionStandingIncludingPropagandaEncountersCommunistKoreaNorth KoreaAdvertisementsDynamicsVolcanoes Author:Werner Herzog
“It's very enigmatic because of course, the population [of North Korea] has no contact with the world outside or it's very, very limited. They don't have any telephone connections, no radio, no TV, no movies, no newspapers - nothing from the outside world. This is very strange and there's the very strict, unifying government that forces you to be in step. You see it in the stadium where the spectators create, by flipping cards, an image of the dear leader, or of the volcano, and it's made of a 100,000 human pictures.” WorldHumansMadeGovernmentCoursesForceLeaderStepsStrangeTvsConnectionsDearPopulationRadioNewspapersContactCardsStrictTelephonesSpectatorsKoreaNorth KoreaStadiumsOutside WorldVolcanoesUnifyingEnigmatic Author:Werner Herzog
“North Korea is not an exception. Even there, where you think it would be completely sober, they have the myth of their revolution being connected to the volcano.” ThinkingWould BeRevolutionConnectedMythExceptionSoberKoreaNorth KoreaVolcanoes Author:Werner Herzog
