‘A goalkeeper vomited over my typewriter’: Werner Herzog on writing his wildest film
He has made feverish films about crazed obsessives – but one idea was too excessive. The great director explains why Mexico, featuring acting frogs and fleets of ships on fire, is finding an audience at last
January 2024
Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer – fascinating portrait of the maverick film-maker
The German director is more illuminating than anyone else in this rich profile
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser review – Herzog’s early masterpiece is bold and brilliant
Rereleased for its 50th anniversary, this gripping retelling of a true story about a disturbed youth who finds favour in high society, features a masterstroke of casting
Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer review – master director’s passionate idealism
Account of the German film-maker’s singular career takes in numerous starry admirers but also is a portrait of an existential disruptor
October 2023
Book of the day
Every Man for Himself and God Against All by Werner Herzog review – magical thinking
You ask the questions
‘I am not that much in pursuit of happiness’: Werner Herzog on beer, yoga and what he would ask God
September 2023
‘Everything became a lie, a performance’ – Werner Herzog on Soviet Russia
You ask the questions
Send us your questions for Werner Herzog
May 2023
It’s a wrap! Why Jeremy Strong shaved his head – and Werner Herzog jumped into a cactus patch
Actors and directors all have their own ways of finding closure once a production ends. Some are much more brutal than others
August 2022
The Twilight World by Werner Herzog review – Japanese officer’s infinity war
Werner Herzog: ‘I was never, contrary to rumours, a hazard-seeking, crazy stuntman’
July 2022
Ranked
Volcano films – ranked!
Missing the heatwave? With the release of Sara Dosa’s hotly tipped new documentary Fire of Love, we round up the most epic, exploding-mountain movies ever made
Struck dumb: why ‘the voice of God’ got booted out of documentaries
Once, no serious documentary could be without its authoritative voiceover in perfect English. But film-makers are now rejecting the whole idea. Are social media and post-truth politics to blame?
Book of the day
The Twilight World by Werner Herzog review – a film-maker’s eerie debut
Herzog draws on the extraordinary story of a real-life Japanese soldier who fought on for decades, unaware that the second world war was over
August 2021
Werner Herzog to tell story of Japanese soldier who refused to surrender
The German film director has announced two new books: a memoir and The Twilight World, about a remarkable second world war officer
November 2020
Five of the best documentaries, as chosen by Werner Herzog
Peter Bradshaw's film of the week
Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds review – Werner Herzog dodges meteorites
August 2020
Other lives
Richard Bright obituary
Other lives: BBC arts documentary director and Werner Herzog’s executive producer
July 2020
My fantasy festival
Alex Cox's dream festival: Coppola, Fellini, Herzog and the 1972 gang
Family Romance, LLC review – Werner Herzog's moving rent-a-family tale