Answer:
No, it doesn’t really matter. You see, it was a very lively exchange, man-to-man so to speak, between Jon Favreau and myself. I was not tossed into unknown territory. I was very well briefed. I knew what was expected of me — I knew the interior landscape of the character and I knew the exterior landscape. You shouldn’t feel upset that I haven’t seen the “Star Wars” films; I hardly see any films. I read. I see two, three, maybe four films per year.Asked if he watches television, he says:
I do, I watch the news from different sources. Sometimes I see things that are completely against my cultural nature. I was raised with Latin and Ancient Greek and poetry from Greek antiquity, but sometimes, just to see the world I live in, I watch “WrestleMania.”... You have to know what a good amount of the population is watching. Do not underestimate the Kardashians. As vulgar as they may be, it doesn’t matter that much, but you have to find some sort of orientation. As I always say, the poet must not close his eyes, must not avert them.I like that — "The poet must not close his eyes, must not avert them." It's an idea I associate with another film director, Akira Kurosawa. Perhaps Herzog read the same obituary I read in 1998. I blogged about it in February 2004:
"To be an artist means never to avert one's eyes." On this topic of disgust and shock... let me share a passage from the obituary, written by Rick Lyman, for Akira Kurosawa, which is one of the most influential things I've read in my life....And here's some video of Herzog speaking in 2009 about not averting your eyes and WrestleMania (and Anna Nicole Smith):
Though he often diverted the conversation when asked about his approach to filmmaking, Mr. Kurosawa frequently described his attitude toward art in similar terms. "To be an artist," he once said, "means never to avert one's eyes."
Mr. Kurosawa also once described a trip he made with his brother, Heigo, through the ruins of Tokyo after a massive earthquake in 1923. More than 140,000 people died in the fires that followed the quake. But as the pair moved through the ruins, Mr. Kurosawa said, his brother insisted that the young Akira look closely at the charred corpses.
"If you shut your eyes to a frightening sight, you end up being frightened," Akira remembered Heigo telling him. "If you look at everything straight on, there is nothing to be afraid of."
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52 comments:
Greedo didn't kill himself.
I was raised with Latin and Ancient Greek and poetry from Greek antiquity, but sometimes, just to see the world I live in, I watch “WrestleMania.”
Whatcha gonna do, brother, when Lysistrata runs all over you...?!
And here's Werner Herzog on chickens.
To be an artist means never to avert one's eyes from the huge paycheck they're giving me for playing this silly role in this silly live action cartoon and for sitting for these silly promotional interviews.
They send me a script and pay me for doing the gig. If they need me to adjust my performance, I give them another take. Capiche?
"Greedo didn't kill himself."
I saw that line in the Instapundit comments too. Over there it was funny because it related directly to the subject of the original post.
I simply cannot read his answers without doing his voice in my head.
Why would he need to see them? Once upon a time neither Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, nor Harrison Ford had ever seen a Star Wars film and it seems to have worked out for them.
Since I am leaving the American Film Market, I can represent that I was one of the few true artists there. “Frankenstein, Part II” is going to be BIG.
We met at the bar
at the Casa del Mar
I’m the man from Nebraska
With the super great pitch
Buy my script
And we’ll all be rich!
*Parading's* better.
Parading?
Parading the streets! Trailing your coat! Bowling along! LIVING!
I love Star Wars. But I'm not sure why Herzog needed to see it. People forget that even hugely popular films -like Star Wars -are only seen by a minority of the country.
If a film gets 50 million ticket buyers - that an insane box office. But that's only 16% of the Country.
"If you shut your eyes to a frightening sight, you end up being frightened," Akira remembered Heigo telling him. "If you look at everything straight on, there is nothing to be afraid of."
I can't help comparing the Tokyo earthquake of '23 to the bombing of H and N in '45. Seems to be an eerie similarity, Japan was used to cataclysm, The nuclear fires were not that more evil than the natural fires. But if you look at both straight on there is nothing to be afraid of.
He definitely has the voice of someone who has seen and absorbed the lessons of the dark side.....What a shame Ana Nicole Smith never got to appear in any of his movies. I'd like to see a rom com with Klaus Kinski and Ana Nicole Smith directed by Werner Herzoz. Such a movie would help many incels see the plus side of their life.
he played the villain, in that jack reacher film, the zek, the ex gulag internee, turned enforcer for an evil corporation,
I've heard that Kurosawa served as a secret unpaid (and uncredited) script and production consultant for the making of the original "Magnificent Seven." Does anyone know if this is true?
You see, it was a very lively exchange, man-to-man so to speak, between Jon Favreau and myself.
Wait! Is he talking about this Jon Favreau? Or someone else?
Wait! Is he talking about this Jon Favreau? Or someone else?
I wondered the same thing. They're different people.
The guy behind ironman, originally starred in swingers
"You're money, baby. You're so money you don't even know it."
That Jon Favreau.
Herzie averted his eyes from the most popular movie series ever. That doesn’t mean he can’t act in it, but maybe he’d direct more hits if he watched and learned.
Big Mike said...
Wait! Is he talking about this Jon Favreau? Or someone else?
No, the other Jon Favreau who's an actor/director/producer.
Now from what im given to understand the series has the stylings of a spaghettuwestern
Spaghetti western, with the mandalorian as an anti hero.
I like to call the other Favreau this Favreau. Like the guy who did Obama’s stuff also did Elf...
I watched the first episode. He didn’t really need to know anything about Star Wars. I’m sure the table read filled him in with more than he needed to know
He always gave a creepy vibe, its odd because hes considered a visionary, lucas succeeded because initially star wars was a small atory on a huge canvas, luke certainly mirrors lucas growing up in a small town,
I mentioned the milius documentary, its rather striking all the big set piece speeches from col kilgore to quint to marko ramius were all written by milius.
Now you were in the gulf war, right stephen cooper, anyfilm adequately conveyedthat environs
Unlike the first film, the first film had the air of wonder, more a fairy tale withrayguns and space ships
At least he didn't say he HATED the Star Wars films and all their fans like the people responsible for the last few movies.
Apocalypse now, was a picturesque journey into the heart of darkness.
narciso what I learned in the gulf war was this
I remember the workers from Pakistan --- I was stationed near Riyadh - they were gonna do what the Saudis said for 24 months because they knew when they got back to Paki with those Saudi bills in their pockets they were gonna be lucky with the Paki ladies, God bless them, I hope they were as lucky as they wanted to be
AND EVERYONE I PRAY FOR IS SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN PRAYED FOR
I remember the way Scwarzkopf and Horner looked at me, looking at me, a guy who they knew could have made millions, with my intellectual gifts, trust me, I could have out-quanted any quant back in the day, back on Wall Street, and I was there with them, Schwarzopf and Horner, making about 5 percent of what I could have been making on Wall Street, and also spending time in places where I could have been killed, not that I minded, Death has always been afraid of people like me .... and Schwarkopf and Horner, AMERICAN HEROES who looked at me, just an O-3 captain but a REAL PERSON WHO WAS DOING A REAL THING, in that God-forsaken land that we were willing to give our lives for because
IT IS ALWAYS RIGHT TO DO SOMETHING GOOD FOR PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT THIS WORLD
well just let me say I gave a lot of comfort to a lot of people who faced a lot of danger
and to tell the truth, even I , who have seen death from an enemy face to face, in a way that almost nobody can understand, am not gonna lie
I went to Midway on Sunday and I thought
wow those guys were a fuck of a lot braver than I could ever be
Well the stakes were greater, if the mission had failed the west coast would have been utterly defenseless to direct attack.
Whereas the consequences in the gulf war might have been severe, but not on that scale
trust me this is not my world
it is yours
In the reworked new hope, hanamdgreedo both fire, is that crazy?
I saw the movies and it took me 40 years to figure out that Luke = Lucas.
If he missed the second set of three, he's lucky.
I have a Werner Herzog inner voice that says very interesting things, but the Werner Herzog outside my head says still more interesting things. Conquest of the Useless is an uneven but worthwhile read for the various Herzogisms sprinkled throughout, although maybe hold out for a Herzog voiced audiobook if you haven’t got as well developed an inner Herzog voice as I do. Saying almost anything in Herzog voice makes it interesting.
Reminds me of the Band on Spike Jones: Can’t stand the way that he sings but I love to hear him talk.
Ein bischen powder on the pate would kill the reflection from that overhead light.
Why would any actor have to become familiar with the previous STAR WARS movies to play a comic book character in the latest chapter of the shitty franchise? The question implies some depth and artistry that is not to be found in one moment of any STAR WARS episode. As Cagney said, you just have to know your lines and hit your marks.
If they really wanted to be adventurous, they would have had Herzog direct one of the episodes - and narrate, too. Of course, that would slow down the pace a lot, but it might have added some depth to the characterization. Han as Aguirre or Fitzcarraldo or Little Dieter or the Bad Lieutenant? Luke as Woyzeck or Stroszek, Kaspar Hauser or Tim Treadwell? Leia as ... mmm ... he doesn't seem to be a great actresses' director ... Leia as Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert? Vader as Nosferatu?
Timothy Treadwell didn't kill himself either.
Is Star Wars still a thing?
The first SWs was a revelation to me. The next couple were great. Then the (inevitable) slide began.
For a long time Hollywood seems intent upon pulling on a rapidly drying teat.
Rogue One was actually pretty good - better than anything outside of the Original Trilogy.
Reviews for The Mandalorian are very positive.
Favreau and Feloni seem like a good team. Favreau is usually a good filmmaker, though he’s had some misses. He understands and appreciates the source material. And he cares about the characters and the fans - he doesn’t care about “subverting expectations” like Kathleen “Spielberg's Coffee Girl” Kennedy and Rian “Roundhead” Johnson.
And Feloni is truly the master of SW canon - he probably knows more than anyone now, even Lucas. Kennedy should have been canned and Feloni should be running LucasFilm within Disney, but he’s seen as lacking the finance/business experience. Of course, that was true about Feige too until he got that experience by producing movies.
which is surprising because looper had an interesting twist, then again so did that other south African, who did district 9 then Elysium and finally chappie,
district 9 is an extremely transgressive and ultimately, in terms of its implications, a thoroughly "deplorable" film. it surprised me how few people recognized that. mostly "white supremacists" with refined aesthetic tastes, but a lot of very sophisticated people missed it despite blomkamp being south african.
I don't get excited about new movies, but I was excited to see that blomkamp was doing a robocop film written by original robocop writer ed neumeier, as a sequel to the original, which I enjoyed. if anyone could approach the alchemy of verhoeven/neumeier, second only perhaps to verhoeven/esterhazs magic, it's blomkamp. bummed also to hear that he's abandoned it, which is another case of giving a shit that surprised me.
narciso --- for the record, we worried a lot about Hussein launching billions of dollars worth of chemical weapons on Israel.
Had he done that, the consequences would have been difficult to imagine. Unimaginably bad for billions of people.
People like to think they are oh so smart and like to say "Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction"
well .....
I would like to think he would not have done the worst he could have done, had he had the opportunity, because he was a fellow human being, and even if someone is our enemy, we should not rejoice in their choice to do evil.
I also, more realistically, like to think that he did not have the opportunity to do the worst he could have done, because of people like Schwarzkopf and the brave Americans who ended that evil regime before it could do its worst.
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