Hobart Cornell, Critic-at-Large
motion picture and that takes into consideration his oeuvre that is packed with exzentrischen Kino. Made in 1976, when Herzog was at his risky apex exploring the potential of feature-length narrative, the film’s extremes give the viewer a holiday from the mundane, the routine, the formulaic.
To best enjoy a Werner Herzog movie is to give ourselves over to him groping the velvety fog as no other filmmaker has dared. He privileges us to drift in and out of wondrous and mysterious worlds hitherto unimagined. If any films exemplify the Tolkien quote “Not all those who wander are lost,” Herzog’s do.
To enhance unlimited possibilities of Heart of Glass, Herzog had his actors hypnotized to somnambulate through the mise en scène in stupefying uncertainty. Images and concepts roam around out there on the edge threatening to spiral out of control.
Then renowned glass artist Paul Marioni will be on hand from Seattle (and Mexico) to give post-film discussion and a review of his works and career. Mr. Marioni, a founder of the famed Studio Glass Movement with his pal Dale Chihuly, evokes a sense of the ethereal and explores celestial realms never conceived by any other glass artist. He points to dreams as one of his major inspirations.
By all means, do attend and breathe the rarified cinematic air of Herzog in what just may be the most important event at VMFA thus far in the New Year. www.vmfa.museum/Films/
–Hobart Cornell, Critic-at-large, responsible for all opinion overt and/or implied in this review.