Werner Herzog on His New 3-D Movie, Death Row Future and the Myth of Independent Film

Do you resent the branding of "independent cinema"? The indie ghetto, or whatever?

I don't care. I couldn't care less whatever is branded. I simply say independent cinema is a myth. Whoever wants to call himself or herself "independent," let it be.

What do you think about shift among distributors toward VOD? Would you be comfortable with your movies only being available on demand?

It is all in gestation. We do not know exactly where we are heading because there's this huge shift of preferences of audiences of ways to distribute films.. However, for me, the mother of all battles has always been reaching the theaters. An audience -- a collective audience -- that comes out of their homes, goes to a theater, pays for a ticket, and sees a film collectively. That's the mother of all battles, and it's going to stay for quite a time. At least for me. Otherwise, whatever is emerging in film on demand and digital possibilities to exchange movies -- the very large plasma screen where you can invite a dozen friends to your home -- we don't have a clear concept. We do not know where it's going to take us.

Would you be comfortable with someone watching this movie on a 3-D TV?

[Pause] Yes, it would be OK. But I still prefer to show the same film in the theater.

What is your favorite film of yours?

I don't have a favorite. I love them all.

Is there a least favorite? Or one you'd do over?

No. I wouldn't. I would never touch anything I've left behind. Let it be, with all the mistakes in it. There's not a single film that doesn't have little defects -- and some of them have larger defects. But as a mother, you love the children with the stutter and the squint and the limp more than the others. So I would be more defensive.

So you'd prefer the imperfect ones?

Yes. Well, I would defend them more. I would pay more attention. But I'm not one of those who goes back and back to his films and tries to improve them and re-edit them and toil over them and ruminate over the films. Let it be! You send them out like children; they have to live their own life, as defective as they may be.

[Publicist gives the signal to wrap interview up]

That's always so unnerving.

It's mysterious.

What's your interview process like? Do you have a philosophy or a strategy?

Well, obviously I want to have a conversation. Like you -- you don't have a catalog of questions prepared. I'm doing a film right now with death-row inmates, and I come without any written questions.

How have you developed that technique?

I think I've become better than in earlier years -- the way I'm really deeply looking into the heart of men. It's different than before -- in decades before. And it's not a surprise to me that every single death-row inmate wants to see me again. And I'm sitting three feet away, and I tell them, for example -- point blank: "The fact that I sympathize with a certain aspect of your legal appeal does not mean that I like you." You see, nobody ever speaks to them like this.

How do they respond?

They can immediately see from miles away if somebody's phony. Or if somebody's trying to bullshit them. I'm such a straight shooter, and I tell them point blank, "It does not necessarily mean that I like you." They've never heard this before. Since they're on death row, they've never heard it.

What's the context of your comment, though, in the film?

Let's not talk about it. It's still in gestation. I just started editing.

Does it have a title?

Death Row. Yes.

What's happening with your film school these days?

I just had one recently in London. It's like a traveling circus -- it doesn't have one locale. I can do it somewhere in an open field in New Jersey in the middle of cows. I could assemble everyone there.

How would that work?

Probably not easily, because I need... It's helpful to have a screen and some kind of projection possibility so I can show some of their films and point out where are the weak points: "What did you overlook here? Why is your sound so neglected?" Or whatever. In fact, I had a Rogue Film School not in New York, but in New Jersey. Near Newark Airport -- in one of those airport hotels where I rent a conference room and I make a deal that they have to pay something like $65 for a room per night. If I had done it here in New York, you don't get away for under $350 a night.

So you did an airport hotel?

I did an airport hotel. Just recently -- it was a year ago or so. And I recently had a Rogue Film School in London, but just outside of London, again near an airport. But as I said, I can do it in an open field, or in a quarry or wherever I choose.

Do you think they've been successful?

Yes. For pretty much every one of them -- or many of them -- it's life-deciding. Because it's not just about movies. It's about a way of life with cinema. Many of them team up. One of the things I postulate is to form secret Rogue cells everywhere. They team up; there are six teams out there from Rogue schools who make feature films right now.

What have you learned or taken away from it?

I don't learn anything; I pass on what I've understood and learned. What is happening I can explain very easily: I'm disappointed at what you learn in film schools. I think it's not the right thing. And in the last two decades, there has been a steady and increasing avalanche of young people who want to learn from me and be my assistant. And I try to give it an organized answer. And the amount of people who want to converge where I'm talking... You could see it in London at the Royal Festival Hall, which has a capacity of almost 3,000. It sells out in 11 minutes. So there is a huge amount -- a really huge amount of people converging to hear me, and I know I can pass on certain things. I just try to find an organized answer.

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