In this episode, we travel to South America with filmmaker Werner Herzog and documentarian Les Blank in the double feature: Fitzcarraldo (1982) and Burden of Dreams (1982).
It’s one thing to watch a film where the main character moves a giant ship over a mountain, it’s another to watch the documentary revealing the painstaking process of making cinema magic come to life. In a world that seemingly pushes us toward the easy and the comfortable, watching films about making impossible dreams come true unleashes a flood of questions: Where would we be without dreams? Where would we be without dreamers? What role does madness play in the pursuit of our dreams? Can you make art without suffering? How do dreamers evolve as they grow older?
Enjoy this conversation with Kelley and I about art, madness, dreams, dreamers, and the cinema of hardship.
Kelley’s Links
Show Links
- Fitzcarraldo (1982)
- Burden of Dreams (1982)
- Werner Herzog
- Les Blank
- Incident at Loch Ness (2004)
- Maureen Gosling
- Wild Man Blues (1997)
- John Cassavetes
- Terry Gilliam
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- The Ten Commandments (1956)
- Ben-Hur (1959)
- A Bridge Too Far (1977)
- David Lean
- Lost in La Mancha (2002)
- The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)
- Man on Wire (2008)
- Das Boot (1981)
- Werner Herzog – A Guide for the Perplexed: Conversations with Paul Cronin
- Conquest of the Useless: Reflections from the Making of Fitzcarraldo by Werner Herzog
- TV Documentary: American Masters: Rod Serling Submitted For Your Approval (1995) Rod Serling
- The Twilight Zone (TV Series 1959–1964)
- Night Gallery (TV Series 1969–1973)
- The Mandalorian (TV Series 2019–)