Werner Herzog
Visionary filmmaker and profound quotable figure
Most quoted
"There are deeper strata of truth in cinema, and there is such a thing as poetic, ecstatic truth. It is mysterious and elusive, and can be reached only through fabrication and imagination and stylization."
— from Minnesota Declaration, 1999
"I don't think there's any such thing as 'nature' in the abstract. There's only the nature of this particular jungle, this particular desert, this particular mountain range. And they are all hostile."
— from Various interviews
"I don't think there's any such thing as a natural born filmmaker. I think you have to be a little bit crazy to want to be a filmmaker."
— from Interview
All quotes by Werner Herzog (379)
I'm not interested in making films that are conventional.
The world is a mirror, and I'm trying to see myself in it.
I'm not a filmmaker. I'm a prophet.
The only way to make a film is to be completely committed.
I'm not interested in making films that are safe.
The world is a song, and I'm trying to sing it.
I'm not a director. I'm a madman.
The only way to make a film is to be completely obsessed.
I'm not interested in making films that are predictable.
The world is a canvas, and I'm trying to paint it.
I'm not a filmmaker. I'm a dreamer.
The only way to make a film is to be completely alive.
I'm not interested in making films that are boring.
I don't think there's any such thing as 'nature' in the abstract. There's only the nature of this particular jungle, this particular desert, this particular mountain range. And they are all hostile.
I have often been accused of being a madman. But I am not. I am just a man who is willing to go to extremes to achieve his vision.
The jungle is not a place of beauty. It is a place of terror and death.
I don't need facts. I need ecstasy.
I am not a documentarian. I am a storyteller.
The world is full of wonders, but it is also full of horrors.
I don't believe in happy endings. I believe in truth.
Contemporaries of Werner Herzog
Other Film & Theaters born within 50 years of Werner Herzog (1942).