Book Review: "Every Man For Himself and God Against All" by Werner Herzog

Above me was the orb of the cosmos, stars that I felt I could reach up and grab; everything was rocking me in an infinite cradle. And below me, lit up brightly by the carbide lamp, was the depth of the ocean, as though the dome of the firmament formed a sphere with it. Instead of stars, there were lots of flashing silvery fish. Bedded in a cosmos without compare, above, below, all around, a speechless silence, I found myself in a stunned surprise. I was certain that there and then I knew all there was to know. My fate had been revealed to me. And I knew that after one such night, it would be impossible for me to ever get any older...

I have seen a few films by Werner Herzog and admittedly, more of them are documentaries than feature films. One of the better feature films I have seen (though it still does not compare to the original by F.W Murnau) is Nosferatu. I have to admit though the one place I think we all remember Werner Herzog from is either the films he has been in himself or, quite possibly, when he portrays a mad scientist character in The Simpsons. I would honestly love to say I remember him more by his overtly original and realism-based directorial style but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Both things can be true at the same time.

The book starts off with a prologue where he gives us this brief overview of his life and how he really came to be the person we know as the greatest director of the German New Cinema. He goes into detail on how he began using vast imagery and philosophical standpoints, some of which you may notice appear in his films.

As we get into the chapters, Herzog explains his family history to us. From the fact that his younger stepbrother has a name that Werner Herzog himself does not mention to the fact that his grandfather was a shy but academic man who slowly but surely lost his mind. The German New Cinema director invites us into his life having never known cinema existed until someone brought a projector with film on it to his village school. Even then, in his classic style, he was unimpressed. His mother bordered on desperation constantly and his family, though established, were in poverty so badly that Werner Herzog himself never made a phone call until his late teens. As he starts directing movies, he explains the importance of great names like Klaus Kinski and, of course, his youngest stepbrother.

One of my favourite parts of this book is when Werner Herzog explains that he is going to report on an active volcano and get an interview from a man who, unlike the rest of the people on the island where the volcano is, refused to be evacuated. It seemed to all happen so quickly and we get an insight into the kinds of people that inspired Werner Herzog on his journey into becoming one of the greatest documentary directors of all time. He explains that after a singular phone call, a very short phone call at that, he was already explaining himself and then, within a short while, was on a plane to the West Indies. This is probably one of the most Werner-Herzog-esque things I could have possibly thought of and though, I personally don't know whether it all actually happened like that, it is better if I think it did.

Another part I enjoyed is when he speaks about his grandfather in his later life. Nothing about him is hidden. Werner Herzog explains the history behind his family with frankness and even admits to their early Nazi sympathies. The longing Herzog feels for Germany's reunion is intertwined with the story of how his grandfather went from a shy but respected academic all the way to a man who could not remember he was married to his own wife. How that after he died, due to Herzog's aunt, the house the grandparents made for themselves went into disrepair and desolation. And finally how he constantly relates himself back to his grandfather in the fact that he too, has his moments of want and desperation, a longing for knowledge.

All in all, this book was an amazing and intense look into the history of one of the most enigmatic and brilliant minds of 20th century cinema. How he formed, his philosophies and his thought processes on reality and time.