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. Werner Herzog More Quotes by Werner Herzog More Quotes From 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. Werner Herzog volcanoes korea thinking My contacts with the film industry can be described in very simple terms: The industry does not really need me, and I do not really need the industry. Werner Herzog simple doe needs The punishment itself is something I respectfully disagree with, but for thousands and thousands of years it was practiced everywhere. Werner Herzog disagree punishment years There are specific times where film noir is a natural concomitant of the mood. When there's insecurity, collapse of financial systems - that's where film noir always hits fertile ground. Werner Herzog noir insecurity financial It's not far-fetched that almost everywhere in the world where you have volcanoes you have mythologies or new gods being created. Werner Herzog mythology volcanoes world Some of the most important caves, like Lascaux in the Dordogne region in France, have had to be closed down. There had been too many people allowed in, and they left a mold on the walls that is spreading and which can't really be stopped. Werner Herzog wall important people 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. Werner Herzog rocks boys years You are in a place that has not been seen for tens of thousands of years, because it was so sealed off. There is such silence that when you hold your breath you can hear your own heartbeat. Everything is so fresh that you have the sensation that the painters have merely retreated deeper into the dark and that they are looking at you. Werner Herzog silence dark years The power of a volcano when it erupts is so evident, so visible, so palpable. Werner Herzog volcanoes visible evident I function better in the jungle in Amazonia or Antarctica or Alaska or the Sahara desert. An artificial environment like a studio has never attracted me. I could work in a studio, but I would never really feel at home. Werner Herzog sahara-desert alaska home We do not see the danger clearly enough that we develop images adequate to our state of civilization. When you watch TV, you know instantly that there's something wrong with the images. When you open a magazine and see the ads, you know there's something wrong with the images. And it's unhealthy and not good and outright dangerous, in my opinion. Werner Herzog tvs civilization watches For me, the distinction between documentaries and feature films is not so clear - my "documentaries" were largely scripted, rehearsed, and repeated, and have a lot of fantasy and concoction in them. Werner Herzog documentaries fantasy film In the Chauvet Cave, there is a painting of a bison embracing the lower part of a naked female body. Why does Pablo Picasso, who had no knowledge of the Chauvet Cave, use exactly the same motif in his series of drawings of the Minotaur and the woman? Very, very strange. Werner Herzog drawing caves use However, there are a couple of volcanoes very close nearby, like Vesuvius in Italy right next to Naples. Werner Herzog volcanoes next couple In my films, I hope there are a few moments where you feel almost illuminated, like in a state of ecstasy, stepping out of yourself, beyond yourself and perceiving something which is only, in the case of cinema, possible in collective dreams. Werner Herzog cinema film dream I've never left my culture. I've left my country, but I've not left my culture. In the same way, you shouldn't be worried why George Lucas is going to the outer galaxy to make a movie. He's still making a film within his culture; he's making an American film. I go to Thailand or the Peruvian jungle, the Amazon, and I still make Bavarian films. Werner Herzog amazon country way I am somebody who creates images, with my perspectives, fascinations and my instincts as a narrator. You have to activate the audience's imagination. If you are just giving them scientific results, they would forget the film in five minutes flat. Werner Herzog perspective imagination giving It happens sometimes that the material itself carries things you have not fully planned. The footage has its own right, its own life, its own vibrancy and energy in it. Werner Herzog vibrancy energy sometimes Gaining trust is not difficult for me. I needed to gain the trust of the North Korean supervisors. Werner Herzog korean supervisors gains There is a fascination about crime, which is understandable, but hardly anyone talks about the families of victims of violent crime and the devastation that is beyond the victim alone. Werner Herzog devastation fascination crime
