- Title: ITALY: Film maker Werner Herzog is up against himself in the Venice Film Festival
- Date: 7th September 2009
- Summary: VENICE LIDO, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 5, 2009) (REUTERS) SHANNON TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR MICHAEL SHANNON SAYING: "He has the most inspired imagination of any director I've worked with. The way he tells a story is so much more exciting to me than a lot of directors that really focussed on you know, getting it right, or being realistic. Reality to me is not as interesting as imagination and Werner lives in the imagination." HERZOG AND REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) FILM DIRECTOR WERNER HERZOG SAYING: "It's not my festival, I don't want to become the menace for the festival, I have two films in competition, now. I also have a short film here and the voice in a fourth film, and we are publishing a book." HERZOG AND REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) FILM DIRECTOR WERNER HERZOG SAYING: (REPORTER ASKS: YOU'VE GOT TWO MOVIES IN COMPETITION SO YOU'RE BASICALLY COMPETING AGAINST YOURSELF) "Yes, that's the fun part of it and of course, these two films will neutralise each other, no it's fine, it doesnt matter whether I'm in competition or out of competition, it's fine for me."
- Embargoed: 22nd September 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVA3167LM30G3IMAYLZEUMHYACC7
- Story Text: German director Werner Herzog is competing against himself at the Venice film festival this year with two pictures in the main lineup.
After presenting Nicolas Cage in "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" earlier in the week, Herzog's second movie "My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done" has been named as the surprise film this year.
"My Son", whose executive producer is David Lynch, is based on a true story of a mentally disturbed man who murdered his mother and also happened to be an actor in a staging of Greek myth of Orestes, who also killed his mother.
Herzog said he met the man in California after he was released from a high-security mental institution, and decided to turn the story into a movie.
"I have met the murderer who was declared legally insane, not fit to stand trial, and he was put away in a maximum security mental institution. After eight and a half years he was declared sane, and released, and I met him. But, I must say, at least half a mile away you could tell he was not sane yet. And, he looked so dangerous that I stayed away from him ever since but the story is based on a real story that happened in very similair circumstances as the film story tells you," Herzog told Reuters on Saturday (September 5), a day after the surprise film was nominated.
"It's a very scary film, although there's never any bloody axe wielded or so, it's a very quiet film which surreptiously somehow creeps up to you and makes you afraid," he said.
Michael Shannon plays Brad, Chloe Sevigny appears as his girlfriend and Willem Dafoe is a police officer trying to arrest Brad, who is armed and presumed dangerous. All three actors have Academy Award nominations, as does Herzog.
Shannon said he thought Herzog was the most imginative director he had ever worked with.
"He has the most inspired imagination of any director I've worked with. The way he tells a story is so much more exciting to me than a lot of directors that really focussed on you know, getting it right, or being realistic. Reality to me is not as interesting as imagination and Werner lives in the imagination," Shannon said.
With two films in competition, Herzog is basically competing against himself.
"Yes, that's the fun part of it and of course, these two films will neutralise each other, " he joked. "No it's fine, it doesnt matter whether I'm in competition or out of competition, it's fine for me," he said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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