Francis Ford Coppola honored Werner Herzog at the Venice Film Festival opening ceremony on Wednesday night, calling him an “unlimited phenomenon working in every nook and corner in cinema” while presenting him the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. The event marked Coppola’s first public appearance since undergoing a heart procedure in Rome earlier in the month.
“I come here to praise Werner Herzog, and it’s not enough to praise Werner Herzog. One must celebrate the fact that someone like he can actually exist,” Coppola began.
Citing the New German Cinema pioneer’s films like “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” and “Fitzcarraldo,” Coppola said that Herzog’s works are “all unique and very different from one another and magnificent.”
“He not only can fill the pages of an encyclopedia, Werner is one,” he continued. “If Werner has limits, I don’t know what they are.”
Coppola ended his speech on a triumphant note, saying: “Werner’s life and his very existence sends a challenge to everyone out there: top me if you can. And all of us truly wonder if anyone ever will. Werner, I will eat my hat if anyone comes who can do it.”
In accepting the award, for which he received a standing ovation, Herzog called Coppola’s introduction “very, very kind” and remembered how he supported him early in his career.
“Francis has been extremely kind and generous to me. We’ve known each other for half a century by now,” Herzog said. “He’s been generous, inviting me when I didn’t have money to pay for a hotel room. I stayed at his house in San Francisco and wrote my screenplay of ‘Fitzcarraldo.’”
Herzog revealed that the duo came “very close” to making a film “about the conquest of Mexico together seen from the perspective of the Aztecs,” though it never materialized. “But it’s a wonderful time when we plotted about it,” Herzog said, adding that “without Francis, I would not have met my wonderful wife Lena.”
Oscar-winning helmer Coppola is in town as part of the presentation of “Megadoc,” Mike Figgis’ documentary on the making of Coppola’s 2024 epic. Herzog is also premiering a new work at Venice: the documentary “Ghost Elephants,” about the search for a mysterious herd of elephants in the Angolan highlands.
Coppola himself received Venice’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 1992. Herzog has a long history at Venice, having premiered the films “Scream of Stone” (1991) and “The Wild Blue Yonder” (2005) at the festival. In 2009, he had two films competing for the Golden Lion for best film with the black comedy “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” and the crime drama “My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?” Herzog will also deliver a masterclass at the festival on Thursday.
The opening ceremony preceded the premiere of Paolo Sorrentino’s “La Grazia,” starring Toni Servillo as an Italian president who must decide whether to pass a bill allowing euthanasia. This year’s edition of Venice Film Festival runs through Sept. 6.
variety.com
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