Werner Herzog shot in LA

[grady]

What the HELL!?

This evening I overheard a fellow student mention the event in my Film Noir class. I was surprised that this information wasn't broadcast throughout the channels and airwaves of mass communication on the internet. It made me question the validity of the story? Why hadn't the story been picked up and been making the rounds on film news sites?

This is what I found:

Google News search

link 1

Text: German director Werner Herzog has had quite an interesting life recently. Apparently, it was he who helped Joaquin Phoenix out of his wrecked car after the accident. 63-year-old Herzog has a home nearby the canyon road above Sunset Boulevard, so he came to help the fresh Oscar nominee. But another accident was more dangerous for the director, who was shot by a crazed fan during a recent interview with the BBC.

Herzog was chatting with movie journalist Mark Kermode about his documentary, Grizzly Man, when a sniper opened fire with an air rifle. Kermode said that he thought it was a firecracker. "Herzog, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, said, 'Oh, someone is shooting at us. We must go,'” recalls the journalist. He also revealed that the director "had a bruise the size of a snooker ball, with a hole in. He just carried on with the interview while bleeding quietly in his boxer shorts."

An unrepentant Herzog insisted, "It was not a significant bullet. I am not afraid."

After further digging and sifting through repostings of the above on two sites I located the video segment on BBC website. In the segment you see Werner chatting with Mark Kermode when the incident occurs, later in the interview Werner shows Kermode the wound in his abdomen/mid-section complete with blood and a welt.

the video

This past week I'd revisited a few of Herzog's films I hadn't seen in some years. (Fitzcarraldo; the documentary about the arduous production of the film, Burden of Dreams; My Best Fiend; and his newest film Grizzly Man) Having seen the video, I can't help but have greater respect for Herzog in light of the situation.

Watching the segment my mind wandered and tried to imagine what the situation might have been like if someone like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, or Martin Scorsese or any other big director were assaulted in such a manner. I can only imagine the reaction would not be nearly as calm as Herzog was. Who knows though.