An amusing, breezy
and insightful
little documentary short.
Although I still have not seen one of his own films, I feel justified in saying that Werner Herzog is one of the most interesting people in the the world of cinema. His bleak insights and depressing outlook can give birth to some wonderful insights, and he has spawned more than a couple amusing stories, such as saving Joaquin Pheonix's life in a car crash (look it up, it's hysterical). However this film allows Herzog his true platform to give his opinions on filmmaking, cooking and various other topics. It was wonderful to say the least.
Prolific documentarian Les Blank handles the direction and does an excellent job. He creates an inviting atmosphere and everything that is said by Herzog and the other participants feels very natural. I give the director huge credit for allowing Herzog to dictate the film's tone and for not attempting to hijack it for his own purposes. The film is also well shot, with some amusing tracking shots of the shoes in question as they march to their destiny.
The most important thing in this film however is definitely Herzog himself. The shoe eating is used as a catalyst to talk about some of the more unbelievable aspects of film-making and gives some nice insights into Herzog as a person, as well as a artist. Herzog also makes a point about what the bet was about in the first place, a young filmmaker who was somehow able to produce the film of his dreams with minuscule resources. It is clear throughout the short that Werner clearly respect smaller independent film and gives both advice and insight towards the trials faced by such filmmakers.
Overall I love this short and I recommend that you track it down on Youtube, or better yet on the Werner Herzog BFI collection.
By Jack D. Phillips
A Zoom Film Review
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