FATA MORGANA

“One of Herzog’s earliest – and most evocative – cinematic essays on the uneasy relationships between man and Earth.” - Lessons of Darkness

The term that’s this film's title is a reference to mirages, and is an apt name for this storyless, hallucinatory work shot in the deserts of North Africa. It’s a rhythmic, musical succession of images and short scenes. One of the images is a pianist and drummer who play tiredly, surrounded by endless tracts of desert. This is an image that has been adapted and re-used in countless music videos and is just one example of this film’s far-reaching influence. The narration, in English, comes from a Guatemalan creation myth, and the accompanying music ranges from Couperin to Cash, with significant contributions by Leonard Cohen.

FATA MORGANA is one of the early features by the renowned director Werner Herzog, best known for AGUIRRE, WRATH OF GOD and FITZCARRALDO. As was the case with many of Herzog's films, he paid a high price in physical pain to shoot this one; he was arrested and tortured by an African government in the mistaken belief that he was a mercenary soldier.