Walking down Main Street of Lexington, while I was a student at the University of Kentucky, so this was probably 1983 or 84. I passed the Kentucky Theatre and glanced at the schedule. A film I had never heard of by a director I had never heard of was just about to start. But the title: Every Man for Himself and God Against All was my ticket in. I walked out of the theater after the movie wanting to know everything I could about Werner Herzog. I tried, unsuccessfully, to talk others into seeing the film. My description perhaps didn’t do the film justice. Perhaps they were like the physicians performing the autopsy.
This film sounds a lot like Jerzy Kosinski's novel Being There(film with Peter Sellers is great as well), have to wonder if he got his idea from this Hauser situation. All these references point to societal conditioning being the culprit in the war against truth, those that embody truth are often scorned and beaten down by society at large.
‘When he arrives in Nuremberg, he looks like Neil Young on a bender and turns the town upside-down by simply existing’.
lol!
Went down a bit of a Herzog rabbit hole the other month but missed this gem. Started with ‘The Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner’ and then got thoroughly weirded out by ‘Heart of Glass.’ Where supposedly Herzog hypnotized each actor before they delivered their lines.
I really need to see this. Also interesting that Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle is also the title of Herzog’s memoir published a few years ago. Clearly a title with a lot of meaning for him.
Edit: Now I see where you mentioned that earlier! I imagine Herzog would prefer people read all the other comments before commenting.
And I’d love to hear y’all talk about his movie Invincible.
Great text about a great film. One little curiosity: the line "It's each man for himself and God against all" comes from the Brazilian film "Macunaíma", by Joaquim Pedro de Andrade. Herzog saw the film and many times confirmed (including to me, when I interviewing him about Fitzcarraldo) that is where he took the phrase from. "Macunaíma" was adapted from a novel of same title by Mario de Andrade. I am not sure if the phrase was already in the novel.
Thanks! I knew he used it as the title of his memoir (which I have but haven’t yet read) but had no idea about its source. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Walking down Main Street of Lexington, while I was a student at the University of Kentucky, so this was probably 1983 or 84. I passed the Kentucky Theatre and glanced at the schedule. A film I had never heard of by a director I had never heard of was just about to start. But the title: Every Man for Himself and God Against All was my ticket in. I walked out of the theater after the movie wanting to know everything I could about Werner Herzog. I tried, unsuccessfully, to talk others into seeing the film. My description perhaps didn’t do the film justice. Perhaps they were like the physicians performing the autopsy.
Outstanding comment. Thank you for reading and responding!
I very much enjoyed reading your piece on a film that I have loved since I first saw it.
Thank you!
This film sounds a lot like Jerzy Kosinski's novel Being There(film with Peter Sellers is great as well), have to wonder if he got his idea from this Hauser situation. All these references point to societal conditioning being the culprit in the war against truth, those that embody truth are often scorned and beaten down by society at large.
It’s very much like Being There, yes.
‘When he arrives in Nuremberg, he looks like Neil Young on a bender and turns the town upside-down by simply existing’.
lol!
Went down a bit of a Herzog rabbit hole the other month but missed this gem. Started with ‘The Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner’ and then got thoroughly weirded out by ‘Heart of Glass.’ Where supposedly Herzog hypnotized each actor before they delivered their lines.
Thanks for the rec!
Thanks for reading. I missed many of them when they were on Criterion recently, but I’ll see them when they come back.
I really need to see this. Also interesting that Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle is also the title of Herzog’s memoir published a few years ago. Clearly a title with a lot of meaning for him.
Edit: Now I see where you mentioned that earlier! I imagine Herzog would prefer people read all the other comments before commenting.
And I’d love to hear y’all talk about his movie Invincible.
I've never seen Invincible--and I'd bet Mike hasn't, either. We shall add it to the queue!
Great text about a great film. One little curiosity: the line "It's each man for himself and God against all" comes from the Brazilian film "Macunaíma", by Joaquim Pedro de Andrade. Herzog saw the film and many times confirmed (including to me, when I interviewing him about Fitzcarraldo) that is where he took the phrase from. "Macunaíma" was adapted from a novel of same title by Mario de Andrade. I am not sure if the phrase was already in the novel.
Thanks! I knew he used it as the title of his memoir (which I have but haven’t yet read) but had no idea about its source. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Love this piece, Daniel. Such a fantastic film! Thanks.
Thanks for reading and commenting! This was the first time I’d seen it and I was baffled by how long it took me to discover it.