Thora, Thora, Thora (12/8/00)
____________
My Best Fiend. [
Mein liebster Feind — Klaus Kinski. Werner Herzog, 1999.]
A bit like the
32 Short Films About Glenn Gould, though Herzog foregrounds his own narration, and there are a lot more than thirty-two stories to tell about the late Klaus Kinski. Among the first few: [1] Kinski [preserved in documentary footage] shouts at an auditorium crowd through a microphone he doesn’t really seem to need, defending the stage with physical violence against the efforts of several hecklers to seize it. The occasion is some kind of one-man show in which Kinski is depicting his idea of Jesus, but it is obvious that the method actor thinks he really
is Jesus [and the mob is really ready to nail him up.] [2] Kinski locks himself into the bathroom of a rooming-house [by a remarkable coincidence, this was Herzog’s own mother’s rooming-house] for forty-eight hours, shouting at the top of his lungs and smashing everything to bits [“very small pieces, you could have strained them through a tennis racket” says Herzog wonderingly.] [3] A theater critic dines with Kinski and praises his recent stage performance, calling him “outstanding, extraordinary”; Kinski throws a plateful of potatoes into the critic’s face and thunders “I was not ‘outstanding’! I was not ‘extraordinary’! I was MONUMENTAL! I was EPOCHAL!” [4] Kinski locks himself in a closet and practices his voice exercises for ten hours straight. [5] Kinski receives the screenplay for
Aguirre from Herzog, calls him at three in the morning, and shouts incoherently into the telephone for half an hour. — Fortunately this is enthusiasm. Kinski agrees to do the movie. — Unfortunately this is right after the one-man show mentioned above; when Kinski arrives in Peru, he still thinks he is Jesus. Complications ensue.
The narration is illustrated by excerpts, outtakes, and behind-the-scenes footage from the five films [
Aguirre,
Nosferatu,
Woyzeck,
Fitzcarraldo,
Cobra Verde] Herzog made in collaboration with Kinski between 1972 and 1988, features interviews with Claudia Cardinale [still rather sweet on the old looney] and Eva Mattes, and culminates with Herzog’s description of his negotiations with the Indian players who appeared in
Fitzcarraldo with regard to their offer to assassinate the star; and Herzog’s own subsequent decision to bomb Kinski’s apartment and kill him himself.
Probably this seems like overreaction. But, then, what’s the point of Art, if you aren’t playing for keeps?
____________Stoners on holiday (12/7/00)
