Herzog and Ferrara fight in Venice

Werner Herzog and Eva Mendez.

Herzog took to the stage at the Venice film festival today in an apparent attempt to clear the air before Ferrara’s arrival next week. At one stage he even went so far as to suggest that the pair discuss their grievances in private. “We should meet up soon over a bottle of whisky,” he said. It remains to be seen whether whisky will cool or inflame their tempers. On learning of Herzog’s decision to remake his controversial 1992 drama as a New Orleans cop thriller starring Nicolas Cage, Ferrara expressed the wish that the makers of the new version should all “die in hell”.

via Directors fall out over film remake | Film | guardian.co.uk.

I hear you, Abel, I really do. You put your heart and soul into a piece of art-cinema, even if it is about a nasty cop who steps way over pretty much every line he ever encounters. Ferrara’s never exactly courted Hollywood, and right now, in a sure sign that the world will soon end, Nic Cage is Hollywood.

Of course, Herzog has had his flirtations with rage in the past. In fact, he’s pretty famous for them.

With freunds like Kinski, who need enemies?

But should he actually court Abel Ferrara? Should he ply this guy with whisky? Has Herzog ever actually seen Ferrara?

I'll eat you like a schnitzel, Werny.

The man’s from the New Yawk City of the 70’s, not the namby-pamby, let’s-go-for-a-walk-in-the-park-after-dark delightful town of recent (fading?) times. All baby strollers and iPods and picnics. If Ferrara were a cop, he’d be the bad lieutenant, on question.

But maybe Herzog’s ready for this rumble. After all, he and Kinski did secretly plot to kill each other, long ago. They came to blows on-set more than once. The native extras did, during one production, offer to murder Herzog’s star. Maybe there’s more to Herzog than meets the eye? Either that, or he just likes sticking his neck out. Maybe sometime this week Nic Cage will pull Werner aside and whisper, “You want me to take this guy out?”

In other news, people are saying that Herzog’s badly-titled Bad Lieutenant film is actually… kinda… good.