A review by kratositaly
Conquest of the Useless: Reflections from the Making of Fitzcarraldo by Werner Herzog

5.0

"A fairly young, intelligent-looking man with long hair asked me whether filming or being filmed could do harm, whether it could destroy a person. In my heart the answer was yes, but I said no."

During the production of FITZCARRALDO, legendary director Werner Herzog kept a diary where he blended detailed write-ups of filming with lyrical beauty, poetry, and peculiar encounters that border on the fantastical. Just like his documentaries are not entirely grounded in reality, so too this book takes on higher, deeper meanings, elevating it to something better than a bog-standard rundown of a production. Les Blank's documentary, BURDEN OF DREAMS, is mandatory viewing too after reading this!