With the awesomeness of Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (our review) opening in many theaters this week and expanding steadily over the next few weeks, I wanted to share this great interview from Collider with the great Werner Herzog.
The film itself is fantastic and absurd bad-assery. Herzog takes Cage and harnesses his outlandish energy to the most positive. This is one of the better films of the year and I love hearing this unique director talk about this work.
Here are the cliffs:
- I tell him how much I loved the movie and ask when did he come up with the movie. Talks about how fast this project came together.
- I tell him thank you for bringing the great Nic Cage back and we talk about his performance.
- Talks about how most of the movie was done on just a few takes. Also how he didn’t shoot a lot of coverage..
- Did he delete a lot of footage and does he like extended cuts on DVD.
- What did it mean to have 2 films in Toronto. He says it meant more to have 2 films in Venice.
- What’s up with My Son, My Son, What Have You Done.
- 8:15 – What is he going to do next. Gives a great answer.
- Says he has 5 or 6 feature film projects and 2 or 3 documentary projects he wants to do.
- Does he want to do doc than feature and back again. How does he pick.
- What does he think of digital filmmaking and 3D.
- I try and find out what he is going to do next and he says he is about to leave for Jordan to see if a film he is planning is doable but doesn’t want to talk specifics until he knows if it is.
“There is no ‘OK’ Nic Cage.”
“3D…would distract from quality of storytelling” – YES!













I think he views Nic Cage similarly to his old friend Kinski: completely bonkers. Was it on Row Three that we discussed how Nicolas Cage is purposely trying to destroy Hollywood from within?
Anyway, I don’t think that there is a filmmaker I find more interesting to listen to talk than Werner Herzog, although I found most of the questions in this interview not very engaging. Oh, and I’d love to here Herzog’s thoughts on fellow German filmmaker Uwe Boll. That’s a question I want to hear asked.
What a squandered opportunity. These questions read like a press junket template.
I’ve bookmarked this to watch AFTER I see the movie. T-2 hours!
Here is a better interview, and it is actually a festival Q&A, http://twitchfilm.net/interviews/2009/11/ask-him-again-his-soul-is-still-dancing-15-minutes-with-werner-herzog.php
both a transcript and and abridged youtube video of the 2nd TIFF screening.
This interview was so bad. There was mic noise throughout the whole thing and you set it up in front a reflection happy picture. have you ever done an interview before? The questions were also ridiculous, that other guy was right, it did read like a press junket. Herzog still made it interesting!