Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe

Entertaining, funny, and oddly thought provoking 20 minute short, in which, quite literally, director Werner Herzog eats his shoe.

He does it in response to a bet he made with then budding, but procrastinating film-maker Errol Morris. He told Morris that if he ever finally got a feature finished, he'd eat his shoe. And so he does, after cooking it, in front of a live audience before the local premiere of Morris' great first feature 'Gates of Heaven'.

As enjoyably silly as it all is, Herzog also makes some real points about needing to be willing to do foolish things to encourage art and artists, and that only by risking being absurd can we have the hope of transcending.

Those who know of Werner Herzog and his film work know he communicates with seriousness and intensity. Every sentence is a deliberate act of poetry. Herzog has no interest in wasting time saying anything that is not important.

In case it isn't obvious from the title, this movie is literally about Herzog eating his shoe after losing a bet. The levity and absurdity of this act is only amplified by the seriousness and intensity with which he approaches it. He must prepare the shoe as one would prepare a last meal, or prepare a body before burial.

If you haven't seen anything by Herzog before, don't bother just yet. If you have, I hope you laugh and cry as much as I did.

Werner Herzog has put his mark on the world of movies, even though you may not know the name right away- he made "Fitzcarraldo" the movie about the opera fan who halls a boat over a mountain. This documentary is shot by Les Blank and details a bet Herzog made to a friend that he would eat his shoe if his friend completed a film. Well, Herzog does have to eat his shoe. And it's very weird, but Herzog is a bit of an odd guy himself. It's a short enough documentary and fun to watch. This documentary is one of two about Herzog- the other is an award winning "Burden of Dreams" about the filming of Fitzcarraldo. I highly suggest checking it out if you enjoy this.

Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (1980)

*** (out of 4)

Funny short has director Werner Herzog eating his shoe after losing a bet to a friend. The documentary does a nice job building up tension and there's some nice side talk about the importance of film.

Burden of Dreams (1982)

**** (out of 4)

Incredible documentary from director Les Blank about the making of Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo. The Herzog film is one of the most amazing films I've seen and it's rather shocking, due to that film's troubled history, that a documentary was being filmed on it. In the Herzog film you realize that the main character played by Klaus Kinski was crazy because of what he was trying to do. In this documentary, you realize that Herzog was crazy for even trying to make this film.

There may be better directors than German New Wave auteur Werner Herzog, but if viewed entirely in terms of how interesting they are personally, Herzog stands above all. His tales of working with deranged German actor Klaus Kinski are the stuff of legend: from filming deep in the jungle using real natives to pushing a ship over a waterfall for Fitzcarraldo to apparently earnestly plotting to kill his star. Or, more recently he saved Joaquin Phoenix from a car crash and then disappeared before he could be thanked. His personality even transfers over remarkably in this short film directed by Les Blank.

We learn that Herzog apparently was friends with Errol Morris. While Morris was still a struggling young filmmaker, Herzog had made a bet with him that if he ever got his film made, the former would eat his shoe. Well, in 1979 he finally does make a film, Gates of Heaven, and Herzog comes to live up to his promise. The film chronicles Herzog as he garnishes, cooks, and eats one of the shoes with some salt and garlic on stage during the film's premiere. This all happens and Herzog still has time to say things like how we must declare holy war on what we see every day on television, talk shows and Bonanza; and how it requires some self-degradation in order to be a director, all in 17 minutes.

So for a short film it works quite well at capturing his essence. It's also up on YouTube to watch for free and in its entirety. This is a good thing, as it is not even available on Netflix. So if you have 20 minutes to spare, it's well worth watching.