A lot of people are looking at this video of Werner Herzog’s visit to Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” as Herzog’s admission that the radioactive albino crocodiles sequence at the end of his 3D documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams was an embellishment of the truth, or “science fiction” as Herzog puts it. However, I see it as simply the reason so many people love Herzog’s films. From his fictional narratives to his documentaries, all of them hold this wonderful lust for life that we are most often likely to laugh at, but at the same time it’s hard not to marvel at his interpretation and view of the world.
Here’s how I opened my review of the film from last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and I think it serves as a good intro to this video as any:
The world through Werner Herzog’s eyes may look the same as what you and I see, but his interpretation of what he sees and the questions he asks are unlike anything I’ve ever considered. In his new 3D documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams things are no different as he explores the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc cave of southern France which holds cave art dating back 32,000 years. Herzog, in his one-of-a-kind narrative style, brings the art to life through ruminations and speculation as to why each painting appears as it does and what the 32,000-year-old artists may have been considering in ways only he could imagine.
You can read my full review of the film, which is in theaters right now, right here (in which I discuss the crocodiles further), but first be sure to watch Herzog’s interview with Stephen Colbert below as I don’t think any review can give you more reason to see the film than listening to Herzog himself speak.
