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A list of the best documentaries by the acclaimed filmmaker Werner Herzog, based on ratings and reviews from IMDb users. Explore his unique and diverse subjects, from Antarctica to the Internet, from grizzly bears to death row inmates.
- Jeremy Urquhart
- Senior Author
- 'Grizzly Man' (2005) Deservedly standing as one of the highest-rated films from the 2000s on Letterboxd, Grizzly Man is a masterful documentary and the best among many great ones Werner Herzog has made.
- 'Land of Silence and Darkness' (1971) Due to its age, Land of Silence and Darkness unfortunately seems to get overlooked all too often, when people discuss the films of Werner Herzog.
- 'Encounters at the End of the World' (2007) Encounters at the End of the World sees Werner Herzog going to Antarctica and exploring the continent with his own singular observations heard throughout.
- 'Lessons of Darkness' (1992) Werner Herzog documentaries are often offbeat and strange, but few feel quite as uncompromisingly experimental as Lessons of Darkness.
- My Best Fiend (1999) In My Best Fiend, Werner Herzog recounts stories of his tumultuous collaboration with the infamously difficult Klaus Kinski.
- Into the Inferno (2016) Collaborating with Clive Oppenheimer, a volcanologist that he met while filming Encounters at the End of the World, Herzog’s Into the Inferno is, unsurprisingly, a documentary about volcanoes.
- Encounters at the End of the World (2007) In Encounters at the End of the World, Werner Herzog’s bleak, nihilistic persona is matched to his environment as he documents the work of scientists in the desolate Antarctic tundra.
- Into the Abyss (2011) Broaching peoples morbid intrigue around terrifying true crime and the ethics of the justice system, documentaries that interview prisoners on death row are not uncommon in film and television.
Werner Herzog. Director. Writer. Producer. Actor. Poet. He studied history, literature and theatre for some time, but didn't finish it and founded instead his own film production company in 1963. Later in his life, Herzog also staged several operas in Bayreuth, Germany, and at the Milan Scala in Italy. Herzog has won numerous national and ...
- January 1, 1
- 1.83 m
- Munich, Bavaria, Germany
- 9 Fata Morgana
- 8 The Transformation of The World Into Music
- 7 Into The Inferno
- 6 Wheel of Time
- 5 Fireball: visitors from Darker Worlds
- 4 Cave of Forgotten Dreams
- 3 Grizzly Man
- 2 encounters at The End of The World
- 1 Lessons of Darkness
Fata Morgana is a documentary set in the deserts of Africa and inspired by the Mayan theory of creation. It even includes a voiceover of a version of the Popul Vuh, an ancient Mayan text that, among other things, includes their creation myth, and how they believed the world and people came into existence. The film is split into three parts: the cre...
A documentary on music and operas may sound strange at first, but that is exactly what The Transformation of the World into Musicis. The film focuses on two things: the Bayreuth Festival and the composer Richard Wagner. The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival in Germany that Wagner founded and built up, and still continues to this day. He helped ...
If you’ve ever wanted an up close look at volcanoes, Into the Infernohas got you covered. Explore active volcanoes in Indonesia, Iceland, North Korea, and Ethiopia along with Herzog and his crew. Co-director Clive Oppenheimer is a volcanologist that leads the way, keeping the team safe amidst the chaos. Related: These Are Some of the Best German Fi...
Tibetan Buddhism is the topic of choice in Wheel of Time. Herzog was present for and documented two initiations in 2002 for the Kalachakra, a religious Buddhist group. Both were overseen by the 14th Dalai Lama, though the first was disrupted due to an illness the Dalai Lama had. Between the two ceremonies, which start and end the documentary, Herzo...
A great recent Apple TV+ original movie, the documentary Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worldsis all about meteors. When co-director Clive Oppenheimer visited a lab that specifically studied and displayed meteorites, he had the idea to create this documentary and contacted Herzog to see if he would be interested. Together, the pair explores many as...
Cave of Forgotten Dreamsis about the Chauvet Cave in Southern France. There, some of the oldest human-painted images that have been discovered exist, and as such, there are many restrictions for the cave itself. Not only did Herzog have to get special permission to film within the cave, but there were several requirements they had to meet too. The ...
Bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell is the focus of Grizzly Man. It chronicles the life and death of Treadwell, a man who thought he was defending the bears from poaching and basically living among them until he and his girlfriend were killed by them. Over 100 hours of footage was recovered from Treadwell’s last five years of life, and Herzog scoured...
Encounters at the End of the Worldis not your average Antarctica documentary. Instead of focusing on wildlife like penguins and polar bears, or even the ice itself as some documentaries do, Herzog visited Antarctica to document the scientists there. While there is some footage of the nature of Antarctica, such as ice tunnels and diving footage unde...
In Lessons of Darkness, there is very little commentary to accompany the shots that Herzog took. This was to bring emphasis and focus on what he had filmed instead, trying to take a closer look at what a catastrophe is and how they are viewed. The catastrophe in this case is the aftermath of the first Gulf War, mostly focused on the Kuwaiti oil fir...
Jul 23, 2023 · Learn about the most compelling documentaries by Werner Herzog, a renowned filmmaker who explores nature, human nature, and society. Discover his unique storytelling talent and insightful perspective through films such as Grizzly Man, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, and Into the Inferno.
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Aug 19, 2016 · Explore the nonfiction films of the German New Wave icon, from Grizzly Man to Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Discover his unique style, themes and insights on nature, culture and humanity.
