The unclassifiable German filmmaker (who resides in LA) turns 65 today--but may he entertain no plans of retiring! In addition to being one of our greatest living filmmakers in both the fiction and non-fiction realms, Herzog gets my vote as the ultimate bad ass:During a BBC interview to promote his acclaimed documentary "Grizzly Man”, a loud pop was heard and Herzog calmly observed "someone is shooting at us". That someone was a crazed fan with a sniper rifle, who struck the filmmaker in the leg. Herzog dismissed the bullet as "insignificant" and with his wound festering, finished the interview.
One month earlier, he rescued Joaquin Phoenix from a car crash in Laurel Canyon...
So for all you non-cineastes reading this, let me put it another way: "Chuck Norris" lives because Werner Herzog lets him…
I'll be catching his new documentary "Encounters At The Edge Of The World" at this year's TIFF---review to come.
