I heard it started as a porno movie

Somebody told me this awful film was to be Herzog's initial porno film. Then, supposedly, he became so focused on "art" that no actual porno scenes were shot. What was left was mismatched footage that got cobbled together with re-shot straight scenes. I don't know whether any of this is true, but what eventually was released would have been a lot more interesting with XXX scenes.
What a waste of time.