Documentary presents a comprehensive portrait of an iconic artist of our time.

If you don’t know Werner Herzog for his movies, you’ll certainly know him for his incredibly distinctive voice and accent. The German director and sometimes actor has had a very eclectic career taking in feature films in both his native Germany and in Hollywood, alongside some of the finest documentaries of recent years. That and a fair bit of recent voice acting including in popular TV shows like ‘The Simpsons’. This documentary from Thomas von Steinaecker interviews Herzog himself alongside several people who have either worked with him, grown up with him or admired him from afar. I’d say its perhaps more one for folks that know about Herzog beforehand, or I suspect you may find yourself a little lost!

‘Radical Dreamer‘ covers Herzog’s career from his early life in post-war Germany, up until his present day status as a bit of a cult hero with roles in popular shows such as the ‘Star Wars’ spin off ‘The Mandalorian’. Through talking head interviews and Herzog’s musings himself, it attempts to get inside his head to understand what motivates him and what drives his work, and as the title suggests, the strange space of the dream world is where a lot of his ideas come from. I particularly enjoyed the segments on his collaborations with the volatile German actor Klaus Kinski, which really brought to life an era of gonzo filmmaking that feels like its from a distant past nowadays.

As I mentioned at the outset, ‘Radical Dreamer’ is definitely a movie more for the Werner Herzog purists, but there’s much to enjoy for anyone intrigued in a peak behind the curtain at one of the most exciting filmmakers around.

Rating: 3/5

Directed By: Thomas von Steinaecker

Starring: Werner Herzog

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt21917088/