Loved young director Linas Phillips' journey with this film. Appreciated the obstacles, both internal and external, that he fought through on this labor of love. The film speaks to taking initiative and not waiting for opportunities to be handed to you. Ultimately, the film emphasizes that perhaps the journey is more important than the outcome. Thematically, that is something that speaks to many creatives in many stages of one's life. I saw this film at a Portland film festival after it came out and have thought of it frequently and talked about it frequently in the 15 years since.
4 Reviews
Just watchable from beginning to end.
theultimatehuman13 August 2007
I just finished this, having been drawn due to my love of Herzog's films, particularly the documentaries.
Clearly Linas, the maker of Walking to Werner, sees his film as a companion piece to Herzog's films, and tells us that he sees in his own footage something of the 'ecstatic truth' that he has seen in Herzog's films.
Well I don't see it. Rather, I think this elongated, narcissistic voyage of self-discovery bears some comparison with the work of Ross McElwee, specifically the rambling, discursive 'Sherman's March', and that is not a flattering comparison at all. Considering the breadth of history, geography, autobiography and humanity on display in McElwee's film, it is quite bewildering to imagine how Linas has managed to edit his film to feature length.
Regarding Herzog's films, the crucial difference is that Herzog doesn't make films about himself, but rather appears as a guide or commentator on the sidelines of films with a clearly delineated centre. Perhaps 'La Soufriere' contains some scenes of Herzog's blatant 'heroism', but the situation is so imminently perilous that it can hardly be helped. It certainly cannot be compared with a two month stroll down some of America's most scenic highways. When Linas talks about the dangers of his trip, and says he thinks about his death every day, it is a major misjudgment of audience sympathy.
Throughout the film, Linas appears as a self-conscious, preening egotist, completely lacking in any revelations, or insight, yet continuously placing himself as the central focus of the film. While he blatantly attempts to portray himself as a Herzogian hero doing battle with the natural world, the only hazards he appears to encounter are some light blistering and an occasional requirement to rough it in a tent. When he announces quite mildly that in coming to LA, he has 'found himself', he offers no explanation of what his 'sharper perspective' might be.
It is, in short, a con trick. Linas hasn't the intellectual rigor, or the honesty, or the balls to be a Herzog, and he doesn't have the genuine manic charisma to be a Timothy Treadwell or a Fitzcarraldo. What he offers instead is a kind of safe, slightly embarrassing student version, attempting to depict himself and his journey as interesting and extreme, but constantly happening across people far more interesting and extreme than himself wherever he goes.
It is these people that make the film bearable from beginning to end. When the emphasis shifts away from himself, Linas clearly does have a gift for developing an instant rapor with some unusual characters, but in his faux blankness as he walks away from the abused prostitute desperately trying to look beatific and pull focus back onto himself, I felt that the truth of Linas' film was not ecstatic, but actually quite self-absorbed and ugly.
Clearly Linas, the maker of Walking to Werner, sees his film as a companion piece to Herzog's films, and tells us that he sees in his own footage something of the 'ecstatic truth' that he has seen in Herzog's films.
Well I don't see it. Rather, I think this elongated, narcissistic voyage of self-discovery bears some comparison with the work of Ross McElwee, specifically the rambling, discursive 'Sherman's March', and that is not a flattering comparison at all. Considering the breadth of history, geography, autobiography and humanity on display in McElwee's film, it is quite bewildering to imagine how Linas has managed to edit his film to feature length.
Regarding Herzog's films, the crucial difference is that Herzog doesn't make films about himself, but rather appears as a guide or commentator on the sidelines of films with a clearly delineated centre. Perhaps 'La Soufriere' contains some scenes of Herzog's blatant 'heroism', but the situation is so imminently perilous that it can hardly be helped. It certainly cannot be compared with a two month stroll down some of America's most scenic highways. When Linas talks about the dangers of his trip, and says he thinks about his death every day, it is a major misjudgment of audience sympathy.
Throughout the film, Linas appears as a self-conscious, preening egotist, completely lacking in any revelations, or insight, yet continuously placing himself as the central focus of the film. While he blatantly attempts to portray himself as a Herzogian hero doing battle with the natural world, the only hazards he appears to encounter are some light blistering and an occasional requirement to rough it in a tent. When he announces quite mildly that in coming to LA, he has 'found himself', he offers no explanation of what his 'sharper perspective' might be.
It is, in short, a con trick. Linas hasn't the intellectual rigor, or the honesty, or the balls to be a Herzog, and he doesn't have the genuine manic charisma to be a Timothy Treadwell or a Fitzcarraldo. What he offers instead is a kind of safe, slightly embarrassing student version, attempting to depict himself and his journey as interesting and extreme, but constantly happening across people far more interesting and extreme than himself wherever he goes.
It is these people that make the film bearable from beginning to end. When the emphasis shifts away from himself, Linas clearly does have a gift for developing an instant rapor with some unusual characters, but in his faux blankness as he walks away from the abused prostitute desperately trying to look beatific and pull focus back onto himself, I felt that the truth of Linas' film was not ecstatic, but actually quite self-absorbed and ugly.
weak
YanivEidelstein17 September 2006
Warning: Spoilers
linas philips is probably not a person i'd like to spend more than an hour and a half with. as the director behind this film, as well as the main character, filming himself from arm's length as he walks down the side of the road, he comes across as a dual presence: as a timid hippie type on camera, who often gets mistaken for a girl by those around him, who shies away from a fight as soon as the prospect of one arises ("i totally respect you, dude") and can't even bring himself to free a trapped goat on his own; and as a somewhat megalomaniacal helmer, who conceives of this grand stunt as a way to imitate his hero and therefore gain validation and self worth. this latter side of his comes through when one day, his plan hits some kind of snag; his vitriolic outburst (directed at the camera) about his unseen collaborator reveals he's not just flowers and bunnies after all.
this film does end up fascinating in parts, not because but in spite of philips' presence. any film which spends a few months travelling America's roads is sure to come up with some fascinating characters - even if philips intercuts some of the most poignant stories with each other, which i found to be insulting to the speakers. ("let's mix up the recovering-murderer footage with the child-abuse-victim footage! there won't be a dry eye in the house!")
philips seems to be seeking validation at every turn, and some of his interviewees appear to be in the film for no purpose other than to praise him on camera.
i felt sorry for poor werner herzog, dragged like this into participating in a film he had no part in creating. his recorded message at the end, proclaiming philips' pilgrimage as some grand achievement, sounds like it was written by philips and read by herzog under duress.
probably worth watching - just not for the reasons the director/writer/editor/star intended.
this film does end up fascinating in parts, not because but in spite of philips' presence. any film which spends a few months travelling America's roads is sure to come up with some fascinating characters - even if philips intercuts some of the most poignant stories with each other, which i found to be insulting to the speakers. ("let's mix up the recovering-murderer footage with the child-abuse-victim footage! there won't be a dry eye in the house!")
philips seems to be seeking validation at every turn, and some of his interviewees appear to be in the film for no purpose other than to praise him on camera.
i felt sorry for poor werner herzog, dragged like this into participating in a film he had no part in creating. his recorded message at the end, proclaiming philips' pilgrimage as some grand achievement, sounds like it was written by philips and read by herzog under duress.
probably worth watching - just not for the reasons the director/writer/editor/star intended.
Seattle International Film Festival - David Jeffers for SIFFblog.com
rdjeffers8 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Thursday June 15, 6:30pm The Neptune
"You can't push yourself into the future with your feet."
By walking from Munich to Paris in 1974, Werner Herzog believed his dying friend Lotte Eisner would be alive when he got there. Inspired by this gesture, Linas Phillips decided to visit the great director in 2005 by walking from Seattle to Herzog's home in Los Angeles. Several days into the trip Herzog called and left a message telling Phillips he would be in Thailand. He urged Phillips instead, to walk in search of his own "ecstatic truth." Walking To Werner is the document of this journey. Phillips offers a blissfully entertaining, energetically scored, and well balanced account of the hilarity and suffering he encounters, along with every conceivable roadside character, "I really like humans!" The benevolent presence of Herzog's periodic commentary seems to almost propel Phillips, 60 days and 1200 miles, while revealing an uncanny parity of thought between the two filmmakers. It's not Herzog, but an incredible simulation.
"You can't push yourself into the future with your feet."
By walking from Munich to Paris in 1974, Werner Herzog believed his dying friend Lotte Eisner would be alive when he got there. Inspired by this gesture, Linas Phillips decided to visit the great director in 2005 by walking from Seattle to Herzog's home in Los Angeles. Several days into the trip Herzog called and left a message telling Phillips he would be in Thailand. He urged Phillips instead, to walk in search of his own "ecstatic truth." Walking To Werner is the document of this journey. Phillips offers a blissfully entertaining, energetically scored, and well balanced account of the hilarity and suffering he encounters, along with every conceivable roadside character, "I really like humans!" The benevolent presence of Herzog's periodic commentary seems to almost propel Phillips, 60 days and 1200 miles, while revealing an uncanny parity of thought between the two filmmakers. It's not Herzog, but an incredible simulation.
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