The Cinema of Werner Herzog

< P> Werner Herzog is renowned for pushing the boundaries of conventional cinema, especially those between the fictional and the factual, the fantastic and the real. < I> The Cinema of Werner Herzog: Aesthetic Ecstasy and Truth< /I> is the first study in twenty years devoted entirely to an analysis of Herzog's work. It explores the director's continuing search for what he has described as 'ecstatic truth, ' drawing on over thirty-five films, from the epics < I> Aguirre: Wrath of God< /I> (1972) and < I> Fitzcarraldo< /I> (1982) to innovative documentaries like < I> Fata Morgana< /I> (1971), < I> Lessons of Darkness< /I> (1992), and < I> Grizzly Man< /I> (2005). Special attention is paid to Herzog's signature style of cinematic composition, his "romantic" influences, and his fascination with madmen, colonialism, and war.< /P>