Fata Morgana (1971)

Fata Morgana: Directed by Werner Herzog. With Lotte Eisner, Eugen Des Montagnes, James William Gledhill, Wolfgang von Ungern-Sternberg. Footage shot in and around the Sahara Desert, accompanied only by a spoken creation myth and the songs of Leonard Cohen.

“Famed filmmaker Werner Herzogu0026#39;s u0026quot;Fata Morganau0026quot; is breathtakingly unorthodox. Although characters appear in the film from time to time, there is no actual story. The film is also not an educational or historical documentary. Itu0026#39;s a film without an accompanying screenplay.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film consists of curious background music and a somewhat illogical narrative VO, the combination of which overlays a long string of images from mostly, though not exclusively, the Sahara Desert. Some of the images are wonderfully odd, and out of the ordinary. The camera captures ghostly images, or mirages, optical illusions that tantalize and mesmerize.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis general cinematic trend is punctuated by occasional observational asides on serendipitous topics. For example, in one sequence a man wearing goggles gives us a mini-tutorial on lizards. And in what for me was the most captivating and bizarre sequence, a small inset room contains a man with dark goggles who sings in a voice that is totally distorted by the microphone heu0026#39;s using, accompanied by an old lady who plays a punchy tune on an old piano. Neither the man nor the old lady seems to enjoy what theyu0026#39;re doing. How baroque.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Fata Morganau0026quot; does have an underlying concept, one that unites the wide assortment of strange images and eclectic sounds. But that concept is so subtle, so opaque that youu0026#39;ll never figure it out without help. From this subtle theme the film does indeed make sense. Without that point of reference, however, the film can seem tedious and unending, a pointless parade of random earthy images and esoteric narrative gibberish.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eUnapologetically redundant, thematically baffling, and cinematically heretical, u0026quot;Fata Morganau0026quot; will likely either make you swoon with delight, or cause you to throw up. Youu0026#39;ll either latch on to the filmu0026#39;s Zen-like qualities or be tempted to smash the DVD into a thousand pieces. One thing that most viewers will agree on: u0026quot;Fata Morganau0026quot; is … different.”