This is a little documentary prepared by Les Blank about Werner Herzog's sort of bet to Errol Morris that he should make a movie, but if he did with the luck that he would need as a first time director, he would literally eat a shoe. Herzog adamantly says in the documentary that he's only doing it in support of Morris and his film (which at the time this doc was released didn't yet have distribution despite its great acclaim at festivals), though there's something sublimely absurd about it all, even through Herzog's deadpan/serious talks to the camera. He talks a bit about Morris and his film too, and his praise for it is all well and good. But it's even more interesting to see a) Herzog's views on commercialism and film-making and the lack of "adequate images", and b) director Les Blank's inventive cross-cutting between the on-stage eating of the show, footage of Charlie Chaplin doing the act in a silent, and Herzog talking to the camera. It's funny once or twice, perhaps unintentionally from Herzog's words (i.e. "it's not self-destructive to throw yourself into a pile of cactus"). But for the most part it's meant as a very serious act of foolishness not just for Morris but for filmmakers everywhere. If you can find it- and it's now available on free sites like you-tube- it's worth a look, especially if you're a fan of Herzog. And for Morris fans too there's a quick treat in an outtake from Gates of Heaven spliced in at one point. That song, by the way, of which I quote in the one-line summary, is awesome.
Review of Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
