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 am not interested in making films that are easy. I am interested in making films that are challenging.
The world is a dance, and I am a dancer.
I am not a follower. I am a leader.
The only way to make a film is to be completely consumed by it.
I am not interested in making films that are pretty. I am interested in making films that are true.
The world is a puzzle, and I am a piece.
I am not a spectator. I am a participant.
The only way to make a film is to be completely lost in it.
I am not interested in making films that are comfortable. I am interested in making films that are unsettling.
The world is a dream, and I am its interpreter.
The poet must not avert his eyes.
Academia is the death of cinema.
There are deeper layers of reality that only can be reached when you have the courage to look beyond the surface.
Civilization is a thin layer covering the chaos.
I am a filmmaker, not a scientist.
The great luxury of being an artist is that you can say no.
Life itself is the greatest adventure.
We are surrounded by so much stupidity.
Filmmaking is a form of madness.
Nature is not only beautiful, it is also cruel.
Contemporaries of Werner Herzog
Other Film & Theaters born within 50 years of Werner Herzog (1942).