The second of two lectures bridging narrative media by David LaRocca, author or
contributing editor of twenty books, including Werner Herzog / Rogue Filmmaker, The
Philosophy of Charlie Kaufman, and Movies with Stanley Cavell in Mind. In today’s
talk, LaRocca responds to an episode of Documentary Now! in which the parody
series weighs in on the aesthetics of Werner Herzog’s persona, including tests of the
epiphenomenon’s ethics, (faux) gravitas, and self-aware humor. Here metafilmmaking
meets metatelevision meets mockumentary—and “Herzog” is at the crux of the
encounter. Like the “demented fury of a hound that has sunk its teeth” into us,
Herzog’s persona has become a permanent feature of the cultural environment for a
half-century. Among the hardest working personae in show business, the Herzog figure
compels attention to the director’s legacy and our evolving uptake of it—teeth bared.

Presented by the Freedman Lecture and Criticism Today Series.