Critic Reviews
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
My Best Fiend is about two men who both wanted to be dominant, who both had all the answers, who were inseparably bound together in love and hate, and who created extraordinary work -- while all the time each resented the other's contribution.
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
What's the difference between artistry and bravado? This isn't a question I generally feel inclined to ask, but I'm compelled by the work of Werner Herzog, who scrambles the two until it's difficult to tell which is which.
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J. Hoberman, Village Voice
Herzog offers some evidence of Kinski's great human warmth, somewhat more of his rage of unimaginable proportions, and a good demonstration of Kinski's uncanny capacity to corkscrew his way into the frame.
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Janet Maslin, New York Times
While My Best Fiend -- does a splendid job of chronicling the high drama and creative pinnacles of their work together, it emphasizes the most public and bleakly amusing aspects of their story.
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Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle
With generous clips from Herzog and Kinski's collaborations, My Best Fiend is one of the great portraits of artists fighting, even with murderous rage, to reach the sublime.
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Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
A thoughtful and clever examination by the director of his longstanding friendship and creative partnership with the late Klaus Kinski.
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Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Herzog's and Kinski's collaboration was one of the strongest in cinema, and the movie does justice to that energy.
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Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
Herzog reveals the genius and madness of his best fiend Klaus Kinski.
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Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
It feels a lot more like a cheap shot than a tribute.
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Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews
Kinski's egomania is offered up by a quote of his that the only interesting landscape on earth is that of the human face.
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Jon Niccum, Pitch.com
The pairing of the director and actor invariably resulted in extraordinary creative collaborations. These men -- arrogant, ambitious, sadistic, fanatical, and in Kinski's case, probably insane -- certainly deserved each other.
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Shlomo Schwartzberg, Boxoffice Magazine
My Best Fiend is Herzog's contentious remembrance of the late actor but, while fascinating, it really doesn't add up to much.
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Oz, eFilmCritic.com
Kinski wasn't the wrath of God, but he was a damn fine actor, and this documentary so entranced and informed me, that I plan on going out and seeing every one of his films again.
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Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com
As documentaries go, this one is second-rate, consisting of almost nothing but Herzog sitting in locations at which he and Kinski once filmed and reminiscing.
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Dan Jardine, Apollo Guide
Klaus Kinski was one helluva showman, and no filmmaker was better able to capture the explosive talent of his favourite fiend than the director of this fine documentary, Warner Herzog.
Read all 15 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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In this very unusual documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog revisits the Peruvian jungle and other locations throughout Europe, where he filmed movies with his long-time protagonist Klaus Kinski. Throughout this journey that mostly consist of interviews with fellow companions and… More
In this very unusual documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog revisits the Peruvian jungle and other locations throughout Europe, where he filmed movies with his long-time protagonist Klaus Kinski. Throughout this journey that mostly consist of interviews with fellow companions and Herzog's unbelievably funny anecdotes about the love-hate relationship with the egomaniac actor. While all that's filmed and presented really calmly and may sound boring for many, it is still full of humor and very interesting insights both into film making and Kinski's personality. There is also some original footage of his tantrums, which is clearly the highlight of this film. The fact that there was more to Kinksi than met the superficial eye is the surprise of this film. And the final scene with the butterfly is so incredibly sweet and beautiful, you actually feel maybe he wasn't such an asshole after all.
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Kinski is even more insane that you've heard.
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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… More
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 documentary.
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L O L what a prick~ i need to watch fitzcarraldo again
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A revealing documentary that is highly entertaining, especially if you are a fan of the work of Herzog and or/ Klaus Kinski. They made some fantastic films together and this well designed documentary answers a lot of questions and is at times, very amusing and also very touching… More
A revealing documentary that is highly entertaining, especially if you are a fan of the work of Herzog and or/ Klaus Kinski. They made some fantastic films together and this well designed documentary answers a lot of questions and is at times, very amusing and also very touching sometimes - especially the last image of the enigmatic Kinski handling a butterfly in the jungle. This is the second documentary I've seen by Herzog and its a style he obviously excels at.
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"My Best Fiend" is Werner Herzog's love letter of a documentary film to his frequent collaborator Klaus Kinski. It also chronicles their turbulent relationship through strange anecdotes and firsthand stories on set. But aside from this notion of reliving Kinski's… More
"My Best Fiend" is Werner Herzog's love letter of a documentary film to his frequent collaborator Klaus Kinski. It also chronicles their turbulent relationship through strange anecdotes and firsthand stories on set. But aside from this notion of reliving Kinski's eccentricity and enigma in a very reflective fashion, this documentary film also serves as a chance for Herzog to analyze and interpret what has been going on inside Kinski's mind all throughout their troubled film collaborations that were often marred by the latter's lengthy diatribes and temperamental unpredictability.
Armed with an eloquence that's both strangely moving and profound, Herzog probes deep into his professional and personal relationship with Klaus Kinski not just to feed our minds with how things have occurred between them but also as a form of myth-making on his part. In the end, he just wants to eternalize Herzog not as a restless madman but as a serene friend; not as a difficult eccentric but someone that could have easily been him in a parallel lifetime. "That makes two of us!" Herzog blurted out when Kinski accused him of being a megalomaniac. This is not your ordinary actor-director relationship. This is mania matched with mania. This is artistic narcissism matched with mad ambition. This is a bomb waiting to explode. This is friendship at its most reluctant. This is their uneasy story.
Returning to the locations of their two most heralded collaborations, "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" and "Fitzcarraldo", and even a brief visit to the location where "Woyzeck'" was shot (with a reflective interview with star Eva Mattes), Herzog retraces the path of their insane acts of mutual artistry that's both appalling and fascinatingly magnetic. We are even granted a peek into some rare footages that shows Kinski both at his unstoppably worst (as he verbally assaults a production manager) and at his subtly caring best (as he tends to a wounded cameraman). We also see one of the extras in "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" whose head still bears the scar where Kinski has once hit him with a sword. He also shared a little anecdote involving Kinski, some 45 movie extras and a Winchester Rifle. Judging from Kinski's demeanor, you already have a clue of what has transpired.
But despite of these shenanigans, Werner Herzog, with his all too personal analysis of Kinski's psyche in relation to his own, is subtly elegiac about the whole thing. He is fully guilty of the fact that he once threatened Kinski with a gun just to prevent him from leaving the still unfinished production of "Fitzcarraldo". He's also quite repentant that, at one time, he once meditated in 'firebombing' Kinski's house.
With these admissions, Herzog knows that even though he claims that he is 'clinically sane' so to speak, Kinski is the only man that can bring out the madman in him. But at the same time, it's not only madness that they have extracted from each other; they have also brought out the best within the both of them. Their monolithic collaborative films can speak for themselves, and "My Best Fiend" may serve as the quiet immortalization of their friendship and film partnership that has made these pictures possible.
It's a shame that Kinski died too soon. It's quite interesting to hear his part of the story. But seeing him in the film, tranquil and all, with a pretty little butterfly flying around him is quite enough. In that footage, there's calm in his eyes and certain quietness to his soul; the ideal image that Herzog wants to remember Kinski with. Perhaps Herzog appreciates great irony.
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This film made me admire Herzog even more. All directors have regular collaboraters, and here Herzog discusses his work and relationship with the tempestuous Kinski. And he isn't afraid to to tell us exactly what sort of man Kinski was, how he was often arrogant, selfish and… More
This film made me admire Herzog even more. All directors have regular collaboraters, and here Herzog discusses his work and relationship with the tempestuous Kinski. And he isn't afraid to to tell us exactly what sort of man Kinski was, how he was often arrogant, selfish and volatile. How Herzog once plotted to fire-bomb his house, and also threatened to Kinski's face that he was going to shoot him. And yet at the end of the day they made five films together - including the classic Fitzcarraldo, and the (far better than the original) remake of Nosferatu. It's when Herzog admits that he "sometimes" misses him and then shows footage of Kinski's softer side that you start to understand their friendship. Unmissable for fans of the two.
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Boy oh boy, watching Herzog and Kinski go at it is like watching two rival wrestlers screaming into the mic. Sure they hate each other, but they need each other to co-exist. Like Batman and the Joker, except there is no light and dark... only darkness. Scary, scary darkness.
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A beautiful love letter to Kinski from Herzog.
Read all 9 featured audience ratings
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