I think you're absolutely right in seeing Herzog as a (negative) Romantic
idealist. I think the most clear statement of his position is during the
filming of Fitzcarraldo while he is berating Kinski for his ridiculous view
of a nature as "erotic" (and simultaneously being extremely afraid of it).
Herzog says (and you've got to do the accent here);
Of course we are challenging nature itself and it hits back, it just hits
back...that's all...and that's grandiose about it and we have to accept that
it's much stronger than we are. Kinski always says it's full of erotic
elements. I don't see it so much erotic, I see it more full of obscenity.
It's just...and nature here is vile and base, I wouldnąt see anything
erotical here. I would see fornication and asphyxiation and choking and
fighting for survival and growing and just rotting away. Of course there is
a lot of misery, but it is the same misery that is all around us. The trees
here are in misery, and the birds are in misery: I don't think they sing,
they just screech in pain. Taking a close look at what's around us, there is
some sort of a harmony...it is the harmony of overwhelming and collective
murder But when I say this I say this full of admiration for the jungle. It
is not that I hate it. I love it. I love it very much. But I love it against
my better judgement.
This is in Les Blank's _Burden of Dreams_ but is also excerpted in _My Best
Fiend_. Herzog (aged 28 at this point, I think) is standing in front of
dense foliage that fills the screen. During the speech we see close-ups of
snakes and then someone spreading out a dead parrot.
Of note here also is Hezog's fantastic book, _Of Walking in Ice_ (sadly long
out of print), detailing his quixotic walk from Munich to Paris to "save"
the ailing Lotte Eisner (my favourite bit is about 2 days into the walk when
he writes (and I quote from memory): "Today I bought a Shell Oil map. Things
are much clearer now").
I think that Herzog's position in _Grizzly Man_ is not dissimilar to
Treadwell's: Nature rules!
ds
Ps. If you're interested in Herzog's voiceovers - see a performance I did in
2005 (the sound quality is not fantastic and it was done in almost complete
darkness):
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&n=2&videoid=761
534970
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