We're doing a retrospective of his films where I work (the Walker Art Center), and today I found myself sitting alone in the museum's rooftop restaurant/coffee shop, with a strong coffee close at hand along with the Janwillem van de Wetering book I'm currently reading. It was after the 3:00 closing time, and other than myself there was just a solitary couple sitting at one of the tables outside on the terrace, high above the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden - which provides a pretty spectacular view of the city skyline (such as it is) and was especially nice today owing to the bright sunlight and summer-like temperatures. We, all three of us, went about our private business in glorious sunlit solitude.
Naturally, I later learned that one member of the couple in question, specifically the male, was in fact Herzog himself - taking a break from his busy schedule here at the museum. I didn't even recognize him circa 1999, notwithstanding the innumerable visual impressions I've had from his documentaries and such. The thing is, he got his hair cut fairly short recently, and the moustache is gone, and I didn't hear the telltale voice as they were on the other side of the glass. Actually, in his knit sportshirt he looked a little more like Herzog's agent than Herzog himself. (And no curly hair, etc.) To think I sat there for 45 minutes all alone with them and passed the time with a book...
At any rate, I passed a question or two onto our Film Dept people and we'll see if they can persuade Roger Ebert to ask him something at the dialogue tonight (which I won't be at), or maybe I can collar him sometime this weekend. If I learn anything, I'll pass it on...
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/ dave /