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Echoes from a Sombre Empire

Jamie Mann

almost 4 years ago

Has anyone else seen this relatively obscure Herzog documentary? Like ‘Wings of Hope’, it follows a person revisiting a traumatic experience from his earlier life, in this case torture by a despotic African leader. More than other films by Herzog, it plays out like a strange dream, and although I was quite unmoved when I watched it, it lingered in the memory…

Justin Vicari

almost 4 years ago

I haven’t seen it, no — is it on dvd?

Jamie Mann

almost 4 years ago

No, I’m pretty sure it isn’t. Found a pirate copy on VCD in Asia, of all places…

Mykolas

almost 4 years ago

It’s on Herzog’s documentaries and shorts dvd boxset.

asa nisi masa

almost 4 years ago

I watched it some time ago and was also relatively unmoved. An interesting film, but as I recall one that lacks the humanity that makes many of Herzog’s documentaries so great.

Ben Simingt​on

almost 4 years ago

New Yorker had the rights, so it won’t be seen in the states on print or DVD release for a while. Yes, it is available on the massive Herzog set…another reminder that I should drop a few hundred bucks on that (if I could). It is an odd little film, emotionally cold like THE FLYING DOCTORS OF EAST AFRICA, but its subject matte is really very interesting. It’s interesting to read that folks found it unmoving. I saw it only after reading about it in Herzog interviews (great HERZOG ON HERZOG material pertaining to it), and reading his summaries of the film was about as intriguing as the final film itself….the stories behind its conception and creation are amazing. However, I wonder what the film viewing experience would be like for someone coming cold to the movie.