Fitzcarraldo

German director Werner Herzog begins work on his 1982 epic "Fitzcarraldo" but soon runs into serious setbacks, from casting problems to his own stubborn refusal to use special effects. After having to reshoot much of the film because the lead …

At the height of the First World War, as armies of thousands fought with each other on European soil, a much more unusual battle was waged in eastern Africa, where Belgian and German colonial territories were separated by the second largest body of water on the continent: Lake Tanganyika. An English big-game hunter living in the region came up with a plan to take out the German warships that patrolled the lake, and command of the mission was given to Geoffrey Spicer-Simson, a disgraced British career officer whose boorish incompetence had earned him the dubious distinction of being the oldest lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy.

Having arrived at Berkeley to host the premier of Errol Morris' Gates of Heaven, Werner Herzog removes his shoes, places them in a pot with garlic and other herbs, and walks barefoot to a shoe store. If this seems bizarre, it is only because you may not be familiar with the legendary exploits of the ridiculously ambitious German director. Herzog's career includes several uniquely bizarre anecdotes, and has resulted in unexpected fatalities (on the set of Fitzcarraldo), a promissory leap into a cactus patch (after wrapping Even Dwarfs Started Small, and for which he still has spines lodged in his knee), and the mutual death threats exchanged with frequent collaborator Klaus Kinski.