Hideo Nomo Has a Posse

CNN is running a cool article about various film set disasters, all of them legend. I think, however, that they err in retelling the story of Werner Herzog pulling a gun on Klaus Kinski, ordering him to continue acting- I’ve always heard that the story occurred on the set of Fitzcarraldo, not, as the article claims, on Aguirre, Wrath of God. For what it’s worth, Wikipedia agrees with the CNN article, but you know how Wikipedia enjoys disseminating its lies and furthering its agenda.

CNN fails to mention a couple of great tidbits: on the set of Apocalypse Now (mentioned in the article), Coppola was rumored to have taped a razor blade to the side of a monitor along with a note reading “use in case film sucks.” There’s also the fine, fine documentary detailing the epic shoot, Hearts of Darkness.

The article also doesn’t mention the (rumored) repeated offerings of a local tribal chief on the set of Fitzcarraldo to kill Kinski on behalf of Herzog. This offerings were declined, I assume, because the film had to get made. A companion documentary Burden of Dreams is out there for the making of this film.

They also mention Gilliam’s efforts to make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, but don’t mention the corresponding documentary Lost in La Mancha. Word on the street is that Gilliam is trying to revive the project, which, judging by what you can see in the doc, is a good, good thing.

Check out Kinski being… uh… passionate on the set of Fitzcarraldo:

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