Werner Herzog (77) is one of the most famous German directors. After countless, often challenging films – some of them shot with his "favorite enemy" Klaus Kinski (1926-1991) – Herzog now reveals surprising things: He is "fascinated" by trashy films and TV formats. He explains this in an interview with the British "Guardian".
A director friend of mine, Errol Morris (72), recently recommended an actually absolutely terrible book by a failed lion tamer. For him it is "a wonderful book" that gives "fabulous insight into human nature". "It's the same with trash films and trash TV. WrestleMania. The Kardashians. I'm fascinated by it," Herzog explains. That is why he does not say that one should only read Tolstoy. "Read everything. Look everything. The poet mustn't look away."
German, Spanish, Latin …
"I also read in other languages," Herzog explains when asked whether he preferred German or English. "I read in Spanish, I read in Latin and I read in ancient Greek." But he basically doesn't care about the language, it depends on the source material. "I mean, for example, take Hölderlin, the greatest of the German poets." One could not grasp it correctly for a translation. If you wanted to read Hölderlin correctly, you would first have to learn German.