Werner Herzog, in town for Hong Kong film festival, talks filmmaking, fish markets and why he is OK with being the bad guy
We sit down with prolific German filmmaker Werner Herzog to discuss his life, legend and legacy – and why he rarely turns on his mobile phone – during his visit to this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival
At the age of 75, Werner Herzog has braved enough hazardous film shoots and ventured to so many far-flung places that it might be hard to picture him doing something new. But last week, the legendary German filmmaker of such classics as Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972) and Grizzly Man (2005) did finally get to experience Hong Kong for the very first time.
Herzog talks to the Post in an interview during the Hong Kong International Film Festival, which is honouring him with a retrospective of his films.
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Have you visited Hong Kong before?
I’d say no, but I have to correct myself. I have been here once, for 20 hours, but in transit mostly; I spent a night in a hotel. So technically I have been here, but I have not really been here. My soul hasn’t been in Hong Kong.
Judging by some of the very unusual places that you have gone to for your filmmaking, I have a feeling Hong Kong might be too safe or uneventful for your liking
No, I don’t agree with you. Because it’s a most exciting, most vibrant city. It’s just phenomenal. And the first thing I did [is] to go to the fish market. I wanted to see the real life that tourists normally do not see.
