More Shoes, More Boots, More Garlic

Anyone who has spent long enough time with me knows my love of movies. And when I find directors I like, I want to see everything that they've ever done. Among these directors is the inimitable German director, Werner Herzog.

Last night we watched Incident at Loch Ness. It's not a Herzog film per se (it's directed by Zak Penn), but it's a mockumentary of the making of a Herzog film. If you've seen enough of his other films to know what he's about, then you should see it, but if you haven't, then stay away until you've seen more of his other films. I only appreciated this one because I had seen Fitzcarraldo, Aguirre, The Wrath of God, My Best Fiend, and other films referenced thoughout. When you watch it, you feel like you're in on the joke, too. But if you didn't know Herzog, I'd imagine it wouldn't work.

For Halloween, I'm thinking of screening his remake of Murnau's Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht. The wild and fascinating actor Klaus Kinski is such an enigmatic Count Dracula, I think. Not enough people have seen this one, and I love it. Perhaps I will show a few other, older "scary" films that day.

But a really short and totally fun one you might see is the Les Blank (also one of my favorite directors) documentary, Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe. The story: his friend, Errol Morris (also great!), wants to make a film about how people mourn their pets, and Herzog, in true hyberbolic style tells him, "If you complete that movie, then I'll eat my shoe!" Morris completes the movie (see it!) and at the Berkeley screening of Gates of Heaven, Herzog eats his shoe, cooked in stock with hot sauce and lots of garlic. Herzog takes this opportunity to try to empower other directors out there to "not be cowards," to "just do it," just make that movie and just stand up for what you want to do. He insists that he does this not to draw attention to himself, but to Morris, whose film was complete but in need of distribution.

Locals, I have it on tape. Bought from Les Blank himself when he aired his Herzog documentary about the making of Fitzcarraldo, Burden of Dreams, at Two Boots a few years ago. It's of my favorite movies of all time, and arguably, a better movie than Fitzcarraldo itself. But again, it's a more interesting movie if you've watched Fitzcarraldo first. Les Blank gave me a keychain that night. I broke it, though.

A man eating his shoe (for real, not like Charlie Chaplin eating his licorice shoe in The Gold Rush) might sound completely crazy to you, and it's crazy to me (also not vegan -- he says "All of you can have the same experience every day when you eat a Kentucky Fried Chicken") . But I find him and his films completely fascinating. He's always been a director who did exactly what he wanted to do, no matter how outlandish or difficult it was. More people should make movies, more people should "eat their shoes" (i.e. stick to their word and do what they want to do). The last line of the movie, "More Shoes! More Boots! More Garlic!" always makes me laugh out loud. Actually, almost everything he says in that movie makes me laugh.

So while he doesn't expect everyone to take the first two literally (though that's what he did), I have found "more garlic!" a motto to live by! So I told you folks I was sick, yes? And I know I've said this before (though probably not on the blog) that when other people are sick, I always can rattle off a list of things they might try. But when I get sick, my brain turns to mush and I do silly things. One of the things I did yesterday: eat about 1 1/2 heads of roasted garlic! No need to worry about Count Dracula!

But what I had completely (temporarily) washed out of my mind is that it is raw, not roasted, garlic that has anti-microbial properties good for sickness. (Thanks for reminding me, Kathy!) I felt a unique fire in my chest all night. Is that what heartburn feels like?

Today I swich to raw, but the way I think I'm going to work it is that I will make a very garlicky hummus that only I eat, to make it go down nicer. I've been drinking sliced ginger in a tea. Should I be eating ginger raw as well?

---
ps1: All this talk of film directors reminds me that I should be on the look out for Todd Haynes! He lives in my neighborhood! I hope I recognize him!

ps2: Another quote from Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe: "I'm quite convinced that cooking is the only alternative to film making. Maybe there's another alternative, that's walking on foot."

ps3: I started a new hat!