This might actually be the most peculiar film Werner Herzog has ever made: a fictional story, told only through the narration of a character, with all but a scant few moments of visuals being nothing more than documentary-style footage of a wide range of people, places, and things. This goes well beyond Herzog's 1992 feature 'Lessons of darkness,' which explored imagery of Kuwaiti oil fields with the presupposition of how it might look to a visiting extraterrestrial. The very concept sounds like something a film student might make as their first high school project. That goes as well for the narration, which is loosely science fiction in nature, yet wide-ranging as it diverts into various topics - a monologue which somewhat feels like how a beat poet might approach genre storytelling. Save for the filmmaker's utmost professionalism and experience, and the involvement of unmistakable Brad Dourif, it wouldn't at all be hard to view 'The wild blue yonder' as being pretty much anything other than a Herzog picture. Yet here we are.
All this is well and good, though there remains the question of the value of the viewing experience. It's a fascinating idea, and maybe a daring one. The footage greet us ranges from interesting to beautiful, to inspiring: useful for the purposes of the feature, the visuals are also such that I would like to see them in an earnest documentary, sans recontextualization, to gain an understanding of what it is we're seeing in the first place. That narrative that is told in so novel a fashion is simple, and simplified compared to what we might get in a more conventional sci-fi flick, yet no less worthy for the fact of it. All this is wonderfully enriched by the fabulous original music of Ernst Reijseger and Mola Sylla, superb and otherworldly and amplifying the latter sense about the presentation. Whatever else is true of 'The wild blue yonder,' there's surely not much else quite like it.
This is almost experimental in nature, and surely will appeal best to only a select audience. It dabbles with the familiar, but in a decidedly unfamiliar way, and for all the ingenuity, I don't think it's unfair to say that by any measure it's a little light on content. Still, whether one is a fan of Herzog or just a cinephile at large, I think this is well worth checking out on its own merits - certainly not for all comers, but for those receptive to all the wide possibilities of what movies to offer, it's just another part of the splendid tapestry. Don't go out of your way for 'The wild blue yonder,' but this is a fun little trip.
All this is well and good, though there remains the question of the value of the viewing experience. It's a fascinating idea, and maybe a daring one. The footage greet us ranges from interesting to beautiful, to inspiring: useful for the purposes of the feature, the visuals are also such that I would like to see them in an earnest documentary, sans recontextualization, to gain an understanding of what it is we're seeing in the first place. That narrative that is told in so novel a fashion is simple, and simplified compared to what we might get in a more conventional sci-fi flick, yet no less worthy for the fact of it. All this is wonderfully enriched by the fabulous original music of Ernst Reijseger and Mola Sylla, superb and otherworldly and amplifying the latter sense about the presentation. Whatever else is true of 'The wild blue yonder,' there's surely not much else quite like it.
This is almost experimental in nature, and surely will appeal best to only a select audience. It dabbles with the familiar, but in a decidedly unfamiliar way, and for all the ingenuity, I don't think it's unfair to say that by any measure it's a little light on content. Still, whether one is a fan of Herzog or just a cinephile at large, I think this is well worth checking out on its own merits - certainly not for all comers, but for those receptive to all the wide possibilities of what movies to offer, it's just another part of the splendid tapestry. Don't go out of your way for 'The wild blue yonder,' but this is a fun little trip.