Whenever I thought about insane movie directors, the first person who always came to mind was James Cameron. His intense vision and lack of human emotion really emphasize the moral of a director who will do anything to complete his perfect film. People's feelings and safety are not taken into account for the sake of his art and I always found that hilarious and interesting. I am proud to say after viewing "Burden of Dreams", Werner Herzog takes the cake for most insane director. "Burden of Dreams" is a documentary about the making of world famous film "Fitzcarraldo" which was plagued with problems from the beginning. The story of "Fitzcarraldo" is that of an insane man trying to build an opera house in the amazon. The true story of "Burden of Dreams" rivals the plot and main character because of Herzog's vision of creating an authentic and perfect movie in the amazon.
Here we see a 30 ton ship being pulled over a muddy hill. There were easier ways to do it, but Herzog insisted on doing it like this and it caused many problems, including injuries. This is just one of the many problems Herzog comes across in making this film, along with being unwelcoming in the middle of a civil war between amazon tribes. There are many one on one interviews with Herzog himself where he slowly slips into insanity while the movie falls apart. He is not completely insane though, he is a genius filmmaker and he has some great insight while discussing matters of life and film. This is not a perfect film, in fact, there are some boring moments, but if you have seen "Fitzcarraldo" or have interest in seeing it, you will appreciate it much more after viewing this documentary. Definitely one of the better documentary's out there, and deserves more recognition. If anything, "Burden of Dreams" should at least be viewed by any film buff interesting in the art of filmmaking.
*3 and 1/2 Lance Approvals*
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