Book Review: CONQUEST OF THE USELESS: A REFLECTION FROM THE MAKING OF FITZCARRALDO by Werner Herzog

Director Werner Herzog is one of the most versatile film makers working in the industry today and he is also one of the most infamous.  His onset escapades with both actors and crew members are legendary and most infamous on the set of his film Fitzcarraldo which went through complete cast changes, controversy with the locals, and natural disasters that prolonged the film’s production.  So much drama went into the making of the film that he released his onset diary as a novel called Conquest of the Useless: A Reflection from the Making of Fitzcarraldo.

 

Herzog’s odyssey with Fitzcarraldo begins in 1979 and will not come to an end until 1984 so the book covers a huge span of time in which things on a film set can go wrong.  The book is meticulous with details in regards to the process and needs of the filmmaking but Herzog doesn’t dwell on those details.  He is more concerned with the minutiae of living in an exotic place filled with an exotic people and culture and trying to bring all this together to complete his massively ambitious film.

Herzog’s reflections are very much like a catalogue of what happens each day on set whether it is important or not and most of the time it’s just his simple observation of things that never seem to change on a day to day basis over the many years of production.  With all of the problems and obstacles put in the way of the production you’d think he would’ve given up on the film.  There were major cast changes, sets were destroyed and lost in the swamp, crew members quit on a daily basis not to mention the locals and their many cultural differences.  The amazing thing is that Herzog never gives up (although there were several times where he thought about it) but instead uses each obstacle as a means to push forward in order to complete the film.  It’s an amazing look at how life can imitate art since the major obstacle in the film is a man who tries to move a ship up a mountain (no easy feat since Herzog and crew were doing this practically whereas in today’s world it would just be a CGI effect).

This is like a written behind the scenes documentary which Herzog is very familiar with since he has produced a plethora of documentaries.  If you are a fan of Herzog’s work and want to know how the man truly thinks while making a film then this is a book right up your alley.  It’s also a great means to get into Herzog’s mind during his early years as a film maker.

Graphic Novel Review: GODZILLA: THE HALF-CENTURY WAR

Godzilla has been around for over 50 years in not just films but novels and toys and even graphic novels and comics.  The chronicles of Godzilla in comic book form has switched from Marvel to Dark Horse and now to IDW and the newest adventure of the giant atomic force of nature – Godzilla: The Half-Century War is one of the best stories thus far crafted. 

The story is told from the perspective of Ota Murakami who was a soldier at the first appearance of Godzilla in 1954.  The story borrows heavily from the original 1954 film as well as others in the Godzilla cannon as the story is unveiled through Ota’s eyes as he is brought into the government agency responsible for trying to destroy and/or rid Japan of the menace.  This story not only takes place in Japan but Vietnam (in 1967), Ghana (in 1975), Bombay (in 1987), and the Whole World (in 2002).  The story starts as a localized incident and then escalates to all facets of the globe with Godzilla battling every member of his rogue’s gallery.  As the story unfolds through the decades Ota’s life is changed to an obsession to destroy and then understand Godzilla as an unstoppable force of nature.

With story and art by James Stoke this is a story crafted by someone who knows his Godzilla history as it is by far one of the few stories to capture the spirit of a Godzilla film while also capturing his effect on a regular Japanese citizen whose life is forever changed and who is forever linked to the legacy that is the monster.  For fans of the giant monster this is the graphic novel to seek out.

Graphic Novel Review: THE CROW: SKINNING THE WOLVES

It’s been awhile since comic creator James O’Barr’s iconic character The Crow has seen the light of day much less been a comic book in which he took part in but with this latest series The Crow: Skinning the Wolves O’Barr returns to bring an all new and different character that readers have never seen before.  In this new story O’Barr shares story create with Jim Terry (who also contributes the art) and O’Barr himself contributes the breakdowns for the script. 

This new story takes place in 1945 inside a Nazi concentration camp where the prisoners are lucky to see the morning of another day but salvation comes in the form of a resurrected man, a new Crow, bent on righting the wrongs done to him and his family.  O’Barr and Terry have crafted a different type of Crow tale as this story starts off with a bang as our no-named Crow quickly dispatches several Nazis as soon as his train arrives at a European concentration camp.  He is making a point to the Commandant of this concentration camp with his bloody arrival that sets the mystery in motion of who this new Crow is.  This new Crow and the Commandant have a deep rooted history that lies at the heart of this Crow’s vengeance and this is revealed slowly throughout the story like a typical mystery thriller. 

This story does not skimp on the blood and gore either as Nazis are literally torn apart and even the horror of a Nazi concentration camp are revealed.  At only 3 issues (as originally published) this is a fast and brisk story yet it hits upon the real life horrors of WWII while telling the ultimate revenge tale of an unlikely hero to the Jewish people.  This is a great start to what I hope is a continuing mandate to bring to light more Crow stories.

Film Review: WAKE WOOD (2010)

It’s always tragic when a young child is taken from this earth before their time but it’s even more tragic if it’s a violent death which is what happens to little Alice (Ella Connolly) when she is ravaged by a dog and thus is how Wake Wood (2010) opens.  Grieving for the death of their daughter Patrick (Aidan Gillen) and Louise (Eva Birthistle) move to the town of Wake Wood in order to move on with their lives.  It is not long before Patrick and Louise are taken in by the town’s local leader Arthur (Timothy Spall). 

One night during a walk into the woods Patrick and Louise come across Arthur and other members of the town performing some type of ritual in which Louise witnesses someone being “reborn.”  They flee to their home where they are discovered and come face to face with Arthur who was at the head of the ritual.  Arthur tells them that the ritual is an ancient custom that can allow a recently dead person to be resurrected for three days in order for the family to say their proper goodbyes.  He offers Patrick and Louise this opportunity.

Patrick and Louise who are still suffering from Alice’s death want nothing more than to see their little girl again and thus they are initiated into the town’s secret cabal.  After they perform the ritual and Alice is returned to them, Patrick and Louise begin to notice little differences in Alice’s behavior and appearance.  Louise begins to think that something may have gone wrong with the ritual since they were not entirely truthful to Arthur during the ritual.  Patrick and Louise’s secrets may not have only damaged a returned from the dead Alice but also the future of Wake Wood itself.

The story of Wake Wood is a slow build but a necessary one as the audience eases into this “other” world of the town of Wake Wood.  As seen through the naïve eyes of Patrick and Louise a lot of what the townspeople of Wake Wood might be doing may be extreme but it is for good cause because playing with life or death is unpredictable and dangerous as Patrick and Louise will soon find out.

The film is directed by David Keating who has a strong grasp of the material allowing the film to ease into its story without all the needless “jump scares” most associated with the horror genre.  Also, the cast does an extremely good job with the material and there is even plenty of blood splatter for the gore horror film.  This is one of those rare horror films that will appease all types of horror fans.

Film Review: THE FRANKENSTEIN THEORY (2013)

There was bound to be someone who would turn the story of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein into a “true story” found footage film which is the premise behind The Frankenstein Theory (2013).  Found footage films have become as part of the film lexicon as say reality TV to television, so it should come as no surprise that literature would be next to be embraced in the genre. 

Jonathan Venkenhein (Kris Lemche) is a scientist whose career has stalled because no one believes his theories that the infamous Frankenstein of Mary Shelley’s novel was based on historical fact who was his ancestor.  He thinks that the Monster is still alive and his goal is to prove the existence of the Monster.  He takes a crew of filmmakers into the wilderness to film his journey hoping to capture proof that he is right and to validate his theories.

This sounds like an actual promising premise but the film takes the format of The Blair Witch Project (1999) but leaves out the suspense and character.  The film makers bicker and disagree and generally this film adds in a couple deaths but to little overall effect because the characters are not in the least bit interesting.  The film suffers from the same thing that most of the found footage films suffer from which is that film makers make the worst subjects for a film.  It also doesn’t help that Venkenhein comes off as a bad caricature and the actual Monster is less than thrilling when it is actually revealed.