MovieChat Forums > Julien Donkey-Boy (2000) Discussion > For people who like/know about Herzog

For people who like/know about Herzog

posted 11 years ago by drnutkin
8 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone else watch this because Herzog was in it? I'm only asking because that's why I watched it and I think it makes the movie VERY hard to take seriously. I just can't stop laughing at most of his lines, even though I know he's objectively abusive and the situations themselves aren't really funny. To be fair I laughed at some of Julien's lines too though (the Hitler monologue, getting upset because the bra didn't give him good luck in the mock wrestling match).

I've read a fair amount about him/seen a number of interviews across his career and I recognized a number of details from his real life in the movie - he wanted to be a ski-jumper as a kid (that weird scene about balancing on a glass), some anecdote about a parrot or something in South America (I can't remember it but the same thing is in his journal from the making of Fitzcarraldo), he really doesn't like "the artsy-fartsy stuff"...

Anyway it's interesting to me that part of the reason his role is so funny is because it seems so unlikely (the cough syrup addiction!), yet the general voice and topics (minus the rage) are kind of in line with his real-life personality. I enjoyed him much more here than in the other semi-self-parodic roles I've seen him in (I hated The Incident at Loch Ness, for instance, as well as some clip I saw of him in a poker movie...?).

Did anyone else who was already familiar with him have this kind of reaction? When I see other posts from people who took this movie really to heart I kind of feel bad because it's just not in me to do it, much as I like it for the (admittedly sick, I suppose) entertainment value. Not that I mean this as a reasoned critique of the movie itself or even his performance in any way - just my own response.

[–] ibbi 11 years ago

The first time I saw this I didn't know much about him, and I just wondered why the father was talking with a German accent, but I could overlook it. This time that was just impossible yeah, it was hard to take him all that seriously, and some of the dialogue just sounded so bad coming out of his mouth, it sounded phony. The hosing in the street scene kind of still works well though.

___
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiYF7pUPuFs

[–] don-lope-de-aguirre 11 years ago

To me this was always a weird art film with lots of humor.
I also watched this film because I was already a huge Herzog fan and knew his audio commentaries and interviews.

Herzog and Korine a friends and Korine was a big fan of Herzog's films before they met. So the parallels are deliberate.

I see this movie as dreamlike, humorous, weird, ecstatic but also as dramatic and sad.
I feel there is a lot of emotion and compassion in the portrail of Julien and the ending is very sad. It compares to Herzog's take to give someone like Kaspar Hauser or Stroszek so much dignity.

[–] Grethiwha 11 years ago

I watched it because Herzog was in it, and my reactions were not unlike yours. Since so much of it was unscripted, yeah, a lot of Herzog's awesome ramblings in this movie ring familiar, and his whole character in the film is hilarious. But I don't really think of it as a matter of being unable to take the film seriously, because his character is a darkly comic one; that's what the film is, and I took it as such. I don't think it took away from my ability to appreciate the rest of the movie, or anything like that...

--- grethiwha -------- My Favourite Films:
http://www.imdb.com/list/Bw65XZIpkH8/

[–] linus-hirschi 7 years ago

I've been reading these comments doing the typical Herzog narration voice.

seriously, what the hell is he doing? xD so funny accent

[–] cpbvk 11 years ago

I didn't realize Herzog was in this movie until I heard him speak at the dinner table. Right away i recognized his voice. It's true that the character he plays doesn't differ much from Herzog himself, which was pretty funny, but that did not intrude at all in my being able to accept the situations presented to me.

[–] clockworkorange13 9 years ago

the part where he tells his son he'll give him $10 to put a dress on and dance with him was one of the funniest things ive ever seen lol

[–] Struckworld7767 9 years ago

There are lot of funny scenes in this movie, it's a funny movie.

I'm from Paris... TEXAS

[–] Struckworld7767 9 years ago

I thought the scene with him talking about the Spaniards was a little distracting, because I just thought of Werner and Aguirre the whole time.

I think it's kind of ironic how his character doesn't like "artsy-fartsy stuff" but exists within a movie that most people would consider "artsy-fartsy stuff."

I'm from Paris... TEXAS