Doc Corner: Werner Herzog's 'Lo and Behold'
Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 8:50AM Glenn here. Each Tuesday bringing you reviews of documentaries from theatres, festivals and on demand.
The indefatigable German director Werner Herzog is an unlikely superstar of the modern age – a man responsible for some of the most singular cinematic visions of our time who has remodelled himself over the last two decades primarily as a documentarian. A filmmaker with a unique verbosity who can devour a metaphor and roll it across his tongue like he was twisting a cherry stem. His accent frequently inciting giggles when paired with subject matter that many feel is outside of the wheelhouse of a 73-year-old man like albino crocodiles, Kanye West, Pokemon, or as in the case of his latest film, Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, the internet at large.
I confess that sometimes I struggle with Herzog’s need to narrate all of his documentaries himself. No doubt spurred on by producers and financiers who see the inherent value if having Herzog, a walking meme among content producers. I was not a fan of Cave of Forgotten Dreams, for instance, for many of the same reasons people adored it. His often long-winded and meandering habits don’t always connect with me as a viewer the way they no doubt do for so many others. And while I was thankful to see Herzog return to the world of non-fiction after the flat and dusty Queen of the Desert (still unreleased in America, unsurprisingly), his latest felt like it was more the product of an over-excited team rather than something organically Herzog. [more...]
I mean, “Herzog Does the Internet” practically writes itself, doesn’t it? It’s a merging of talent and subject that seems tailor made for audiences, hipster ironic or otherwise. However, Lo and Behold is a modest film, surprisingly so given the scope from the dawn of the internet (the “lo” of the title) to the future as far as the potential Mars colonization. It is disappointing that something bigger and bolder wasn’t attempted to match the size and importance of the subject matter and so it comes off at once as both too little and too much with Herzog somewhat adrift, surrounded by a sea of overwrought zeal. Considering he has three films this year, it might be a case of rushing.
It becomes remarkably easy to roll one’s eyes as his recognizably droll and peppery narration hypothesizes about whether, to paraphrase Philip K. Dick, the internet dreams of itself or about who is responsible if a self-driving car has an accident, but these are actually genuinely fascinating concepts that the film doesn’t allow to be investigated in much depth late into the 98-minute runtime. In fact, most of the film’s ten chapters offer something that could inspire a potentially more involving, thoroughly detailed feature – or a ten-part documentary television series that may have actually been the project’s more logical home. Werner spending time in a community for people made sick by technology like something out of Todd Haynes’ [safe]; the possibilities of the future for robot technology beyond artificial intelligence and fears of Skynet style hostility; the tragic story of how the internet turned photos of a young woman’s bloodied crime scene body into a morbid viral hit.
The internet has made Werner Herzog into a truly unexpected hero celebrity and he is aware of this, of course, having even recently said on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast that “[his] humor on the internet has quite often gone viral.” I guess it was only a matter of time before he turned his directorial lens to it. Perhaps it should have been an autobiography. It’s just a shame then that there’s too much for Lo and Behold to cover to entirely satisfy beyond the surface enjoyment inherently found in Herzog’s unique perspective being centred on the internet’s curious hold over modern society.
Release: Opening fairly wide (38 screens) this weekend for a film that is also going to VOD, iTunes, and Amazon on the same day.
Oscar chances: The Academy have only ever gone to Herzog once with 2008's Encounters at the End of the World, but with the Netflix doc Into the Inferno also to come later this year, doesn't it seem entirely possible that a Herzog narrative could begin to form? Sight unseen I would be predicting Inferno given that Netflix campaign budget, but critic orgs are often at a loss about streaming docs - Nina Simone, Virunga, and The Square have all been overshadowed in that regard - and the high profile theatrical release of Lo and Behold could give it a leg up with critic prizes and could swing things for the Academy's doc branch to this title. Pure speculation of course, but it's worth considering.
Reader Comments (3)
I'm usually a big Herzog fan, especially his recent documentary work, but I agree that Lo and Behold is pretty lacking. Ultimately I got the sense that Herzog is curious about the internet and evolving technology, but not particularly passionate. Maybe he was just phoning it in while developing other projects, but this does feel pretty half baked - it's the first time I've felt like one of his docs was riding on his schtick alone.
Roark, right? Like, it never really came together into something. Even the ten chapter thing felt really sloppy (and which is why I thought maybe it'd work better as ten 30-minute episodes on TV). I was surprised to see it ha 100% on RT with rather ecstatic reviews since I hadn't heard anybody particularly enthusiastic about it at recent festivals.
Well, take heart - it appears you have single handedly brought that RT down to 97%! An oasis of sanity in an insane world!