My Best Fiend (Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski)

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My Best Fiend (Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski)

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My Best Fiend (Mein liebster F...

Baron v.d. Recke, Beat Presser, Benino Moreno Placido, Claudia Cardinale, Eva Mattes

This is a film about the love-hate relationship between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski - utterly puzzling to outsiders - about the deep trust between an actor and a director, and their independently a...( read more  read more... )nd simultaneously hatched plans to murder one another.

Id: 3388773

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My Best Fiend (Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski) Recent Reviews

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My Best Fiend (Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski) Recent Reviews
  • SirPant
    October 1, 2009
    SirPant
    The most successful collaboration of actor and director of all time? I think so. Putting the record straight, Herzog shows us the truth behind his best friend who also happened to be an egotistical maniac (and possibly the greatest actor of all time). A beautiful and heartfelt do...( read more)cumentary.
  • her69eyes
    May 25, 2009
    her69eyes
    The highly decorated relationship between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski is as fascinating as any other in modern cinema history. Together, the two made five films: "Aguirre: The Wrath of God", "Nosferatu", "Woyzeck", "Fitzcarraldo", and "Cobra Verde". After those five shoots, it...( read more)'s a miracle that either one of them came out alive. In fact, at one point during the filming of "Aguirre", Herzog convinced a raging Kinski to finish the film only after threatening to kill him and then himself. Kinski raged and screamed in protest at first, but finally settled down to finish. During the shoot of "Fitzcarraldo", the natives on location disapproved of Kinski so much that the chief asked Herzog if he wanted them to kill Kinski. Herzog obviously denied, however he might not have had there not been scenes left to shoot.

    In "My Best Fiend", the legendary German director, Werner Herzog, revisits the locations he shot each of the films and recalls his experiences with Kinski. It feels that the bulk of the film deals with "Fitzcarraldo", especially due to the convenience of having the footage that Les Blank shot for "Burden of Dreams" at his disposal, but unfortunately it leaves us with little to none for "Cobra Verde". Although Herzog is a marvelous and very visual storyteller, it certainly hurts the film that we don't see more of Herzog and Kinski together. If you've seen "Burden of Dreams", you've seen most of that footage.

    The film begins with footage of Kinski giving some sort of lecture to a crowd. He screams, rages, and berates the audience members - he's a rockstar, a larger-than-life eccentric with an immensely dominating presence. Perhaps the only man capable of taming Kinski is the equally egocentric Werner Herzog, a man whose battles with nature in the filming of such films as "Aguirre" and "Fitzcarraldo" must have been only just as daunting as his struggles with Kinski. Today, decades older, Herzog is soft-spoken and calm - a philosopher with a vivid memory and imagination.

    "My Best Fiend" doesn't really arrive at a thesis or a defined psychoanalysis of what made Kinski tick. It, instead, recalls Kinski from the memory of Herzog. To compliment the stories of a raging lunatic, he shows us lovely footage of Kinski at his most relaxed - enjoying a day with Herzog at a film festival, or communicating lovingly with a butterfly. It's not so much a tale of a psychopath as it is the story of a friendship, albeit an enormously violent and angry one. The film is fascinating, however it's not as compelling as "Burden of Dreams" due to not having the same amount of on location footage with Kinski.

    The film is available on NetFlix's "Instant View" service.
  • mistershinobi
    August 31, 2008
    mistershinobi
    Intense love letter to a psychotic friend, one of the most interesting documentaries out there for film lovers and filmmakers everywhere.

    I specially loved the part where Herzog describes the Kinski's Spiral, an acting technique created by Kinski himself to walk into frame with...( read more) a bang... I loved it so much that, three days after seeing this movie, a friend and I were doing a short film and we used it for one scene with awesome results. Cool, huh?
  • rubystevens
    July 25, 2008
    rubystevens
    L O L what a prick~ i need to watch fitzcarraldo again
  • benjaminguilbert2
    January 30, 2008
    benjaminguilbert2
    Highly amusing and fairly instructive documentary that simply proves that actors are truly boring people except when they are sublimed by directors.
  • ahhh1989
    November 1, 2009
    ahhh1989
    After watching this I can safely say that I have a renowned respect for Werner Herzog and for Klaus Kinski. They drove each other equally insane, and yet their love for each other is so genuine. This film has some flaws, mostly in terms of how a lot of footage is presented, but i...( read more)t's still astounding to watch these people duke it out.
  • karenshaub
    October 29, 2009
    karenshaub
    MY BEST FIEND is director Werner Herzog's love letter to his longtime star Klaus Kinski. Herzog and Kinski were two distinctly different personalities who often clashed, but when they came together they formed a third entity capable of creating incredible cinematic experiences.Ki...( read more)nski was brash, bombastic and given to horrendous rants and tantrums that kept most directors from working with him more than once--a completely egocentric artist who demanded being the center of attention at all times. Herzog by comparison is quite and self- controlled, but he talks matter of factly of having planned to kill Kinski, and one piece of film shot on location shows him more than willing to go toe to toe with Kinski in a screaming match. But there is definitely a large ego at work in Herzog as well.So different and yet so much alike. A little madness and a lot of ego in them both.Herzog seems frequently drawn to films that deal with madness from AGUIRRE THE WRATH OF GOD, which starred Kinski, to his documentary GRIZZLY MAN about Timothy Treadwell who mistakenly believed his knowledge of the bears would protect him. However he also seems drawn to another type of film akin to the mockumentary. The best example being INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS where he supposedly records an expedition researching the famous monster, but is everything what it seems to be? I think that perhaps MY BEST FIEND is a happy marriage of these two cinematic preoccupations of Herzog's, because in MY BEST FIEND there's truth and there's some deception with a big wink. Even the film's title seems to be a hint that there is more here than meets the eye. Deception perhaps aimed at adding to the legendary relationship that existed between the two men during Kinski's lifetime which will probably grow to epic proportions now that he's gone-- something that I'm certain Kinski would enjoy immensely.
  • mpghoul1973
    June 18, 2009
    mpghoul1973
    Interesting to Kinski and Herzog fans. Two egocentric' artists who's best works were made together. Kinski is notorious for being a madman. Filled with some truly cool footage from the Aguirre shoot, you see Kinski attack an extra with a machete!!!! He actually swings it on the g...( read more)uy hitting him in the head! Klaus fucking Kinski!
    But this film is really about the relationship both these madmen had. Its as gentle as it was chaotic.
  • JasonDennis91786
    February 3, 2009
    JasonDennis91786
    the only problem i have with this very artful and informative documentary is its lack of objectivity. herzog frequently dismisses kinski's version of events with nary a care, and everyone seems to jump on the boat with him. which is fine, except only a few of the abused crew are ...( read more)represented, herzog directed this film, and this was made 8 years after kinski died, which is something of a dick move. anyway, after seeing this movie, it looks like kinski was bipolar, obsessive compulsive, and deathly afraid of people in general, and women in particular. just my theory.
  • renedavid
    January 1, 2009
    renedavid
    an intense and sincere look at
    the art and madness of filmmaking
    and friendship
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