A carefully controlled look at Klaus Kinski, with director Werner Herzog in the starring role of redemption. Look, he claims, I'm not as crazy as the man said. The implicit tone is that Herzog is answering his critics for the record--his critics being both Kinksi himself, and the press and rumor mill that publish stories about the two of them.
Especially telling, to me, was Herzog's nihilist-on-depressants rant about the jungle during the filming of the great Fitzcarraldo. I think this man was every bit as disturbed as his star, but one was only really genius behind the camera. The other, in front of it.
This is a political film, dressed up as a love poem. It's a statement and defense, in the context of so much history to break through.
What's the truth here? Only the people who were there will ever know. But watch Fitzcarraldo, or Aguirre, Wrath of God, and you can forgive the men anything. You can forgive them for tearing themselves apart with madness.
Where we saw it: DVD | We deign to rate it: 79 outta 100