Werner Herzog – A Guide for the Perplexed: Conversations with Paul Cronin

Were you ever on the summit of Cerro Torre yourself?

A professional is anyone good at his job. I once spoke to the manager of a football team who said he could tell in sixty seconds if a player was gifted and could be of use to the team; he didn’t need two weeks of training. The first thing is to see how the player runs, then what the ball does with the player, then what the player does with the ball

The world reveals itself to those who travel on foot.

I don’t think I could ever put my finger on what constitutes true poetry, depth and illumination in cinema. I have always wondered how Kurosawa made something as good as Rashomon; the equilibrium and flow are perfect, and he uses space in such a well-balanced way. It’s one of the small handful of truly great films ever made. The sins, on the other

One way of creating this climate of absolute professionalism on day one, and making it clear to everyone how your set is going to function, is to start filming within ninety minutes of everyone arriving, no matter what. Roll the camera even if the gaffer is still in shot; he’ll realise fast enough that he needs to get out of there. Your attitude sh

I truly liked Kinski for the attitude he brought to that hotel room, though once he arrived at the site where the boat was to be pulled over the mountain and saw how steep the terrain was, his heart sank. He was convinced it couldn’t be done, and became the strongest negative force on the film.

Wall-to-wall protection is devastating because children are conditioned not to be intrepid; they will never grow up to become scientists who jump across boundaries into the unknown. And every time I walk past a hand sanitiser – those bottles attached to walls everywhere across America these days – I want to tear it down. They are an abomination. I

Every time you make a film you should be prepared to descend into Hell and wrestle it from the claws of the Devil himself. Prepare yourself: there is never a day without a sucker punch. At the same time, be pragmatic and learn how to develop an understanding of when to abandon an idea. Follow your dreams no matter what, but reconsider if they can’t

It was instantly clear to me what the key to filmmaking was. They have a beautiful expression in Peru: “Perseverance is where the gods dwell.”

At one point Kaspar spontaneously starts weeping after being given a baby to hold, then says, “Ich bin von allen abgetan” [“I am so far away from everything”]. In another scene, a professor of logic tests him by explaining there is one village inhabited by people who tell only the truth and a second where people tell only lies. A man is walking bet