Werner Herzog Reflects

The great German filmmaker Werner Herzog joined us on Friday to talk about his life in film and his latest projects — movies about drug-addicted cops and matricidal sons, and his upcoming Rogue Film School.  Here he responds to listener Elizabeth in Montreal, Canada, who called his films a "transformative experience" — "I always know that something new is going to happen every time I go back to one of your films," she said.

Listen to Herzog reflect on "what real filmmaking is all about."

WERNER HERZOG: She’s at the right point when she says I’m trying to transport the audience into some area which is unknown, where they have some sort of “illumination.” We have to be careful with the term -- let’s touch this “illumination” only with a pair of pliers. But that’s what I’m trying to do. I think that’s what poets try to do. That’s what real filmmaking is all about. There are moments where you know you are not alone anymore. You have something that enlightens your existence in a way. It happens in cinema as well. And if I achieve something like that for moments in one of my films, I think I’ve done everything I set out to do.