Herzog talked about his work -- and, in particular, his recent documentary about murder and the death penalty, "Into the Abyss".
Werner Herzog speaks at Amherst College Tuesday.Acclaimed filmmaker Werner Herzog made a stop in Amherst Tuesday afternoon to talk about his work -- and, in particular, his recent documentary about murder and the death penalty, Into the Abyss.
Herzog delivered lectures at the University of Massachusetts and Amherst College. Below, a round-up of some of the coverage that has popped up on the web over the past few days.
Herzog talks directing, ‘Into the Abyss’ at UMass [Daily Collegian]
Ardee Napolitano covered the event for the Daily Collegian, noting Herzog's remarks about his editing process:
Before editing, he writes notes while watching all his footage in the order it was shot and only once. He marks scenes he particularly likes with exclamation points. These marked scenes, he said, always end up in the final edit of the film.
The Herzog Swoon [Guy in the Black Hat]
Evan Torner, a Ph.D. candidate in German and Film Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, offers a thorough recap Herzog's UMass talk on his blog Guy in the Black Hat. Torner writes:
In essence, Herzog shares the quality with Slavoj Zizek that he is one of the rare crowd-pleasers who can cater to students’ desire for “profound messages” and professors’ desire for academically grounded wit with equal aplomb.
Herzog hates psychoanalytics. [YouTube]
YouTube user LydiaisRad uploaded a short clip of Herzog's talk at Amherst College, during which the filmmaker -- on his way to dismissing the whole of the 20th Century -- called the field of psychoanalysis "a monumental mistake". He continued: "It's not very productive for human beings to put light into every single dark little corner of our existences. Leave your soul dark if it is dark and if it has dark corners. Leave them dark and live with it."
How to Document an Intellectual Disaster [Karapture]
Photographer Eddy Pula gets shut out of the overcrowded Amherst College lecture, then sneaks in and manages a guerrilla-style portrait of Herzog at the podium. A video accompanying Pula's blog post gives a sense of just how many people had hoped to get into the talk, which was limited to 88 seats. (Video contains profanity.)