Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin (Werner Herzog)

[Stay Puft]

NOMAD: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BRUCE CHATWIN
Dir. Werner Herzog



IMDb page

[Stay Puft]

It's a bit of a shaggy travelogue, not unlike the recent films he has made with Clive Oppenheimer, but eventually it becomes more of a trip down memory lane, as Herzog reflects on his own friendship with travel writer Bruce Chatwin. It's very much in the style of recent Herzog, so YMMV based on whether or not you're still on his wavelength at this point in his career, but I enjoyed this one quite a bit, if only because Chatwin himself is such fascinating subject matter. Herzog's intersecting interests allow him opportunity to explore a variety of topics and ideas, so there are echoes of other films here, too, like Cave of Forgotten Dreams, and a couple of the chapters are basically behind-the-scenes documentaries of sorts for Scream of Stone and Cobra Verde (the former of which I have not seen, unfortunately). Some of the best scenes are simply Herzog and Nicholas Shakespeare, Chatwin's biographer, sitting around and telling stories about Chatwin, getting lost in some emotional moments. That personal connection gives this one a bit of a different tone, and I found the whole thing to be quite affective and enjoyable.

[Lazlo]

I'm voting Yay for the house insult alone.