inarguably one of the most interesting filmmaker of the last 50 year and werner herzog have be push the boundary of cinema perhaps more so than any other commercial filmmaker . i have be acquaint with herzog for a few decade now and i have never not be impress by both the man and his work . last year i go to see rescue dawn and be somewhat surprised at how relatively mainstream the film be and yet couldn not help but imagine herzog take his actor and crew into the actual jungle to not only make the film and but to live it . no other filmmaker be a craze about the purity of the film make process and the subsequent lore from such production a fitzcarraldo have be forge into cinematic legend . today i sit down to fata morgana and a 1969 herzog film that could be describe a an allegorical filmic postcard . without research the actual location and i be assume it be shoot somewhere in africa and both coastal and desert and a region that could have once be the cradle of infant man and infant civilization and infant life on earth . it be these origin and the biblical notion of the garden of eden and the apocalypse that herzog be concern with and a be voice by the narration dispense throughout the 79 minute run time . watch fm i couldn not help but feel i be a passenger on a profound journey . in the opening sequence and the title be translate a mirage and herzog juxtaposes this translation with multiple repetition of commercial jet land on an airstrip . these image be pervert and their 3 dimensionality crush flat by a long lens and pile layer of exhaust and heat wave and light aberration all on top of one another . the effect leave me to conclude represent thing be not a they seem . fm be divide into 3 very distinct chapter represent 1 ) creation and 2 ) paradise and 3 ) the golden age . chapter one and open with countless and languid image and where bleak and barren landscape scroll by and dead animal rot and broken shell of crashed airplane and abandon car slowly disintegrate in the desert sun . the people populate this inhospitable landscape be rag and unsmiling and apparent prisoner of the desert . the narration talk of a time before life and a time where the canvas of earth be blank and all that exist be the heaven . while the narration hearken to a simpler and purer era and a portrait of a young boy hold a fox like animal by it throat evoke a chill depiction of man cruel and ruthless attempt to enforce a dominion over nature . in the next chapter we be introduce to more of the same and yet the image and people be more animated and seem infuse with a modicum of life and vitality . we listen to a goggle biologist talk about the difficultly a monitor lizard have hunt for prey in such a lifeless environment . a he hold the squirming monitor and it tongue flicking at fly and he also describe how difficult it to capture these creature in the sear 140 degree heat . the parallel be duly noted and herzog continue to explore this concept through repeat and candid portrait of individual batter by the sun and the desert and the laborious effort require to exist in this harsh realm . he also push forward the theme that if not in control and man assert his control over his environment and not always in the most pleasant of way . the last chapter take u out of the desert blast furnace and into the more familiar herzog territory populate by eccentric and absurd behavior . no one seem to have a more effective symbiotic relationship with the oddball of the world than herzog possibly this be where he feel most at home . much like errol morris and herzog chooses to place his camera in a seemingly objective a position a he can before he let the film roll . the subsequent flirtation herzog have with his subject be the result of him be able to continue shoot well beyond the point when most director would have yell cut . a morris do and this extended roll push past the on moment the subject feel oblige to offer and through their discomfort of be push into overtime and their facade give way to something real . the most humorous portrait in this chapter be of the 2 person band play an odd and polka like song that herzog recycles throughout this chapter . the drummer of the band wear the same goggles a the biologist and a do another guy do a magic trick and beg the question represent what with the goggles . they definitely add some levity to the film and but one have to wonder if they hold any deep meaning or significance and or be this just another example of herzog playfullness . the narration aside and herzog utilizes folk and blue music a the experimental documentary soundtrack . leonard cohen grab the most screen time and two of his beautifully melancholic song so long marianne and suzanne . perfectly accompany the scrolling landscape and add to the convincing feel that we be truly along for the ride . by the end of the journey and herzog come back to one of the many shot that recur throughout the film represent the distant framing of a lone vehicle traverse the endless desert engulf by a water mirage that fill the horizon . despite the overall bleakness of fm and the crescendo of the film and the mirage motif leave you with a hopeful spirit and belief that against all odds and life will persevere and possibly even flourish . have finish write this post and i reference fm to discover that herzog shoot it in saharan cameroon only week after a bloody coup . true to his legend and herzog and his crew be arrest and beat and imprison . while imprisoned and herzog fell ill with schistosomiasis and a blood parasite . it truly hard not to love such a hypnotic and austere film a fata morgana while know the filmmaker be willing to die to get it make only make you respect it all the more . http represent or or eattheblinds . blogspot . com or .