Every Night the Trees Disappear : Werner Herzog and the Making of Heart of Glass

When Alan Greenberg first showed up at Werner Herzog’s Munich home at age twenty-four, he was, according to the director, the first outsider to seek him and recognize his greatness. At the end of their first evening together, Herzog urged Greenberg to work with him on his film __Heart of Glass__—and everything thereafter. He clinched his plea by assuring the young American, “On the outside we’ll look like gangsters, but on the inside we’ll wear the gowns of priests.” __Every Night the Trees Disappear__ is an intimate chronicle of how this visionary filmmaker directed a masterwork. Greenberg’s observations, interwoven with Herzog’s original screenplay, elucidate just how unusual Herzog’s filmmaking methods could be. By hypnotizing his actors before shooting each scene, Herzog led his crew into a veritable cinematic netherworld, resulting in one of the most haunting movies ever made. Rather than a conventional, journalistic account of how a director makes a movie, __Every Night the Trees Disappear__ instead presents a unique vision with the feel of a novel—intimate, penetrating, and filled with mystery. 'You know from seeing it that Herzog was up to something strange in filming Heart of Glass. Now the mystery is clarified. Alan Greenberg peers into the heart of darkness of the great artist.'—Roger Ebert“Mesmerizing... as poetic and mysterious as the film itself.”—Jim JarmuschThis intimate chronicle of the visionary filmmaker Werner Herzog directing a masterwork is interwoven with Herzog's original screenplay to create a unique vision of its own. Alan Greenberg was, according to the director, the first “outsider” to seek him out and recognize his greatness. At the end of their first evening together Herzog urged Greenberg to work with him on his new film--and everything thereafter. In this film, Heart of Glass, Herzog exercised control over his actors by hypnotizing them before shooting their scenes. The result was one of the most haunting movies ever made. Not since Lillian Ross's classic 1950 book Picture has an American writer given such a close, first-hand, book-length account of how a director makes a movie. But this is not a conventional, journalistic account. Instead it presents a unique vision with the feel of a novel--intimate, penetrating, and filled with mystery. Alan Greenberg is a writer, film director, film producer, and photographer. He is also the author of Love in Vain: A Vision of Robert Johnson. Werner Herzog is considered one of the world's greatest filmmakers. His books include Conquest of the Useless and Of Walking in Ice. Front Cover......Page 1 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 Foreword by Werner Herzog......Page 10 A Distant Wind......Page 14 Gangster Priests......Page 17 Death Lesson......Page 21 The Sign at Thusis......Page 30 The Scenario: A Summary......Page 34 Blues......Page 36 The Scenario......Page 40 The Gloom of Gloom......Page 44 The Scenario......Page 55 Outside Czechoslovakia......Page 61 Pallbearers......Page 66 The Scenario......Page 68 The Castle Flies......Page 69 Under the Ice......Page 73 The Scenario......Page 79 The Interrupted Death of Friedrich......Page 87 The Scenario......Page 90 The Fool on the Roof......Page 94 The Soundman Haymo......Page 100 The Scenario......Page 101 The Diminishing Snake......Page 114 Order and Disorder......Page 117 The Weasel of Feilgau......Page 120 Wa’hid......Page 126 Ludmilla......Page 130 The Scenario......Page 141 Sachrang......Page 162 The Story of Absalom......Page 169 The Scenario......Page 171 The Bluff......Page 183 The Death of a Dog......Page 188 The Scenario......Page 193 Afterthought: Visions of Great Skellig......Page 198 Zorn’s Lemma......Page 199 Great Skellig......Page 207 Nothing to Declare......Page 215 Afterword by Werner Herzog......Page 218 Acknowledgments......Page 224 About the Author......Page 226 Back Cover......Page 234

When Alan Greenberg first showed up at Werner Herzog’s Munich home at age twenty-four, he was, according to the director, the first outsider to seek him and recognize his greatness. At the end of their first evening together, Herzog urged Greenberg to work with him on his film Heart of Glass-and everything thereafter. He clinched his plea by assuring the young American, 'On the outside we’ll look like gangsters, but on the inside we’ll wear the gowns of priests.'

Every Night the Trees Disappear is an intimate chronicle of how this visionary filmmaker directed a masterwork. Greenberg’s observations, interwoven with Herzog’s original screenplay, elucidate just how unusual Herzog’s filmmaking methods could be. By hypnotizing his actors before shooting each scene, Herzog led his crew into a veritable cinematic netherworld, resulting in one of the most haunting movies ever made.

Rather than a conventional, journalistic account of how a director makes a movie, Every Night the Trees Disappear instead presents a unique vision with the feel of a novel-intimate, penetrating, and filled with mystery.

When Alan Greenberg first showed up at Werner Herzog’s Munich home at age twenty-four, he was, according to the director, the first outsider to seek him and recognize his greatness. At the end of their first evening together, Herzog urged Greenberg to work with him on his film Heart of Glass —and everything thereafter. He clinched his plea by assuring the young American, “On the outside we’ll look like gangsters, but on the inside we’ll wear the gowns of priests.” Every Night the Trees Disappear is an intimate chronicle of how this visionary filmmaker directed a masterwork. Greenberg’s observations, interwoven with Herzog’s original screenplay, elucidate just how unusual Herzog’s filmmaking methods could be. By hypnotizing his actors before shooting each scene, Herzog led his crew into a veritable cinematic netherworld, resulting in one of the most haunting movies ever made. Rather than a conventional, journalistic account of how a director makes a movie, Every Night the Trees Disappear instead presents a unique vision with the feel of a novel—intimate, penetrating, and filled with mystery.