Director
Werner Herzog explores the “future of truth”
Werner Herzog during the Berlin International Literature Festival in September 2023. Photo
© Annette Riedl/dpa
He is a filmmaker who can also tell stories well: in many short stories, Werner Herzog illuminates the pitfalls of our perception.
What about the truth in our time characterized by fake news and manipulation? This question concerns the author and filmmaker Werner Herzog and not just since the discussions about artificial intelligence and its effects on our society. In his jungle epic “Fitzcarraldo” (1982), the boundaries between reality and imagination become blurred: a steamship is towed over a mountain, a man dreams of an opera house in the middle of the rainforest. Herzog uses the film as a starting point for his anecdote-rich essay “The Future of Truth”, which can also be read as an autobiographical walk through a diverse life’s work.
For Herzog, truth is not a fixed quantity, but rather a constant effort to recognize the core of things. People have always been tricked and manipulated: from the ancient Egyptians to the founding fathers of Rome and the tyrant Nero to the long-proverbial Potemkin Villages in 18th century Russia. And the director himself admits that he twisted the facts a bit in some of his documentaries to achieve the desired effect. So what helps against the seemingly endless flood of fakes? You have to remain critical, question things, consult multiple sources, use your own mind, is the enlightening conclusion of this small, entertaining volume.