Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A film that describes the love-hate relationship between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski, the deep trust between the director and the actor, and their independently and simultaneously hatched plans to murder one another.
Herzog's documentary about his volatile relationship with Klaus Kinski is a singularly compelling and deeply personal work. The narrative of mutual murderous contempt coexisting with profound creative trust is extraordinary and told with Herzog's unmistakable philosophical voice. The film's novelty is high — there is simply nothing else like it, a director's intimate, darkly humorous autopsy of one of cinema's most legendary and terrifying collaborations. The archival footage and on-location revisits are effective if not visually dazzling. The ending is reflective and elegiac rather than dramatically conclusive, which suits the material but doesn't provide a strong formal resolution.