World-renowned filmmaker Werner Herzog has always been an interesting figure who has made a great many interesting and compelling films, whether they be fictional or documentaries. "Fata Morgana" falls into the latter category, and as such it's not telling a story - at least, not in a traditional way - so much as it's relating experiences through a melding of image and music.
Shot in the Sahara desert, it's supposedly about the phenomenon of "Fata Morgana", or mirages, but what the viewer gets is something even more ambitious. It's divided into three parts: Creation, Paradise, and The Golden Age, with Creation accompanied by recitations from the Mayan creation myth. Now, if the prospective viewer is still reading this, they're in for an unconventional experience. It's one in which Herzog has stated that his film is meant to function as collaboration between the filmmaker and his audience, and people can interpret it how they see fit.
It begins intriguingly enough, albeit in a manner that might be off putting to those with shorter attention spans: shot after shot of various planes touching down in the desert, edging forward into the shimmering heat waves of the locale.
Even some Herzog admirers will grant you that this is one of his stranger efforts, but it's so far removed from typical Hollywood product that it merits a viewing just on that basis. Along the way, we see all kinds of vehicle wreckage, a sad assortment of animal carcasses, and one of the oddest musical acts that one will ever see. Certainly the combination of image and music does make for a striking kind of entertainment.
Seven out of 10.
Shot in the Sahara desert, it's supposedly about the phenomenon of "Fata Morgana", or mirages, but what the viewer gets is something even more ambitious. It's divided into three parts: Creation, Paradise, and The Golden Age, with Creation accompanied by recitations from the Mayan creation myth. Now, if the prospective viewer is still reading this, they're in for an unconventional experience. It's one in which Herzog has stated that his film is meant to function as collaboration between the filmmaker and his audience, and people can interpret it how they see fit.
It begins intriguingly enough, albeit in a manner that might be off putting to those with shorter attention spans: shot after shot of various planes touching down in the desert, edging forward into the shimmering heat waves of the locale.
Even some Herzog admirers will grant you that this is one of his stranger efforts, but it's so far removed from typical Hollywood product that it merits a viewing just on that basis. Along the way, we see all kinds of vehicle wreckage, a sad assortment of animal carcasses, and one of the oddest musical acts that one will ever see. Certainly the combination of image and music does make for a striking kind of entertainment.
Seven out of 10.