Portrait: Werner Herzog (Werner Herzog: Filmemacher) 38 years old

An autobiographical short film by Werner Herzog made in 1986. Herzog tells stories about his life and career. The film contains excerpts and commentary on several Herzog films, including Signs of Life, Heart of Glass, Fata Morgana, Aguirre, the Wrath of God, The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner, Fitzcarraldo, and the Les Blank documentary Burden of Dreams. Notable is footage of a conversation between Herzog and his mentor Lotte Eisner, a photographer. In another section, he talks with mountaineer Reinhold Messner, in which they discuss a potential film project in the Himalayas to star Klaus Kinski.

Credits

Portrait: Werner Herzog Cast

Name Character
Jason Robards He was 63, 78 years old when he died as archive footage
Klaus Kinski He was 59, 65 years old when he died as archive footage
Werner Herzog He was 43, now 81 years old as Himself
Thomas Mauch He was 48, now 87 years old as archive footage
Mick Jagger He was 42, now 80 years old as archive footage
Paul Hittscher as archive footage
Beat Presser He was 33, now 71 years old as archive footage
Walter Saxer He was 38, now 76 years old as Himself (archive footage)
Reinhold Messner He was 41, now 79 years old as Himself

Portrait: Werner Herzog Crew

Name Department
Popol Vuh as Original Music Composer. Sound
Lucki Stipetić as Producer. Production
Maximiliane Mainka as Editor. She was 42 (now 80) years old Editing
Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein as Cinematography. He was 47 (now 85) years old Crew
Portrait: Werner Herzog poster
Portrait: Werner Herzog (38 years)

  • Release day: Thursday, March 27, 1986
  • Runtime: 28 minutes