Directed by Werner Herzog • 1992 • Germany
“The collapse of the stellar universe will occur–like creation–in grandiose splendor,” announces the quote (attributed to Blaise Pascal, but actually invented by the director) that begins Werner Herzog’s terrifyingly beautiful rumination on the ravaged oil fields of post–Gulf War Kuwait. Surveying the scarred, flaming landscapes with the curious detachment of an alien visitor, Herzog gazes into the inferno and finds both otherworldly wonder and philosophical revelations, delivered via his distinctively doomy voiceover. The result is one of the filmmaker’s greatest works, a profound, hauntingly enigmatic reflection on war, catastrophe, and what apocalypse just might look like.
Up Next in Directed by Werner Herzog
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Little Dieter Needs to Fly
Directed by Werner Herzog • 1997 • Germany
Dieter Dengler, a German-American Navy pilot who was shot down over Vietnam in 1966, recounts his experiences as a POW in a Vietnamese prison, tortured and starved until fear and desperation compelled him to make daring escape. Travelling to Laos and Th...
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My Best Fiend
Directed by Werner Herzog • 1999 • Germany
An engrossing look at one of cinema’s most intriguing partnerships, MY BEST FIEND chronicles Werner Herzog’s legendarily volatile friendship with actor Klaus Kinski. As Herzog delves into his history with Kinski in colorful detail—from the flat Kinski o...
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Wheel of Time
Directed by Werner Herzog • 2003 • Germany
In this wondrous documentary about the power of spirituality, director Werner Herzog travels to Bodh Gaya, India, to capture the pilgrimage of hundreds of thousands of Buddhists, who make the arduous trek there to partake in a momentous six-week initiat...
