My Best Fiend

May 17, 1999

1h 35m

★ 7.3

Overview

A film that describes the love-hate relationship between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski, the deep trust between the director and the actor, and their independently and simultaneously hatched plans to murder one another.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Café Productions

Zephir Film

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

My Best Fiend Trailers

Cast

Self

Werner Herzog

Self (archive footage)

Klaus Kinski

Self

Claudia Cardinale

Self

Eva Mattes

Self

Baron van der Recke

Self

José Koechlin von Stein

Self

Bill Pence

Self

Baronin van der Recke

Self (archive footage)

Beat Presser

Self (archive footage)

Guillermo Ríos

Self (archive footage)

Andrés Vicente

Self (also archive footage)

Justo González

When World War II broke out, John Ford, in his forties, commissioned in the Naval Reserve, was put in charge of the Field Photographic Unit by Bill Donavan, director of the soon-to-be-OSS. During the war, Field Photo made at least 87 documentaries, many with Ford's signature attention to heroism and loss, and many from the point of view of the fighting soldier and sailor. Talking heads discuss Ford's life and personality, the ways that the war gave him fulfillment, and the ways that his war films embodied the same values and conflicts that his Hollywood films did. Among the films profiled are "Battle of Midway," "Torpedo Squadron," "Sexual Hygiene," and "December 7."

6.6

King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen

Jul 7, 2018

A feature-length documentary focusing on the acclaimed work and eclectic career of maverick filmmaker Larry Cohen, writer-director of "Black Caesar," "It's Alive," "God Told Me To," "Q," "The Stuff," and many more.

7.0

Good Chemistry: The Story of Elemental

Sep 13, 2023

Pixar director Peter Sohn takes viewers on a humorous personal journey through the inspiration behind Disney and Pixar’s feature film “Elemental.” “Good Chemistry: The Story of Elemental” traces his parents’ voyage from Korea to New York, explores his dad’s former grocery shop in the heart of the Bronx, and delves into his choice of a career in animation, rather than the family business.

0.0

Unwilling Sex

Mar 6, 2018

They gave in. Or capitulated. They didn't want to have sex. They couldn't push back, to make them understand that no, they didn't want to. Some consider it part of the unpleasant yet inevitable experiences of youth. Others don't. For the first time, a film addresses this "gray" area of sexuality without consent.

5.7

Elia Kazan: An Outsider

Sep 15, 1982

Hour long documentary on the legendary director.

6.2

Unmistaken Child

Jun 7, 2009

In Nepal, a venerable monk, Geshe Lama Konchog, dies and one of his disciples, a youthful monk named Tenzin Zopa, searches for his master's reincarnation. The film follows his search to the Tsum Valley where he finds a young boy of the right age who uncannily responds to Konchog's possessions. Is this the reincarnation of the master? After the boy passes several tests, Tenzin takes him to meet the Dali Lama. Will the parents agree to let the boy go to the monastery, and, if so, how will the child respond? Central to the film is the relationship the child develops with Tenzin.

6.4

Godard Cinema

Jun 5, 2023

Jean-Luc Godard is synonymous with cinema. With the release of Breathless in 1960, he established himself overnight as a cinematic rebel and symbol for the era's progressive and anti-war youth. Sixty-two years and 140 films later, Godard is among the most renowned artists of all time, taught in every film school yet still shrouded in mystery. One of the founders of the French New Wave, political agitator, revolutionary misanthrope, film theorist and critic, the list of his descriptors goes on and on. Godard Cinema offers an opportunity for film lovers to look back at his career and the subjects and themes that obsessed him, while paying tribute to the ineffable essence of the most revered French director of all time.

7.3

I Am Alfred Hitchcock

May 2, 2021

Interviews and archival footage weave together to tell the story of the Master of Suspense, one of the most influential and studied filmmakers in the history of cinema.

6.5

Altman

Aug 1, 2014

Robert Altman's life and career contained multitudes. This father of American independent cinema left an indelible mark, not merely on the evolution of his art form, but also on the western zeitgeist. With its use of rare interviews, representative film clips, archival images, and musings from his family and most recognizable collaborators, Altman is a dynamic and heartfelt mediation on an artist whose expression, passion and appetite knew few bounds.

7.7

Fellini, confidences retrouvées

Oct 29, 2023

Federico Fellini died on October 31st, 1993. Thirty years later, he is still considered as one of the most irreverant moviemaker in the history of cinema. Through a long-previously-unseen interview, directed by Jean-Christophe Rosé in 1981, through extracts of his films and through behind-the-scenes, this documentary draws an intimate portrait of Fellini by himself.

8.7

Martin Scorsese, l'Italo-Américain

Dec 8, 2023

No overview available.

7.5

The Balcony Movie

Aug 7, 2021

Composed from the conversations that the director holds with people passing by in the street under his Warsaw apartment, each story in 'The Balcony Movie' is unique and deals with the way we try to cope with life as individuals. All together, they create a self-portrait of contemporary human life, and the passers-by present a composite picture of today's world.

7.0

Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One

Oct 28, 1968

In Manhattan's Central Park, a film crew directed by William Greaves is shooting a screen test with various pairs of actors. It's a confrontation between a couple: he demands to know what's wrong, she challenges his sexual orientation. Cameras shoot the exchange, and another camera records Greaves and his crew. Sometimes we watch the crew discussing this scene, its language, and the process of making a movie. Is there such a thing as natural language? Are all things related to sex? The camera records distractions - a woman rides horseback past them; a garrulous homeless vet who sleeps in the park chats them up. What's the nature of making a movie?

7.6

Werner Herzog - Radikaler Träumer

Oct 27, 2022

With exclusive behind-the-scenes access into Herzog’s everyday life, rare archive material and in-depth interviews with celebrated collaborators – including Christian Bale, Nicole Kidman, and Robert Pattinson, we are given an exciting glimpse into the work and personal life of the iconic artist.

7.8

Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy

May 4, 2010

For decades, Freddy Krueger has slashed his way through the dreams of countless youngsters, scaring up over half a billion dollars at the box office across eight terrifying, spectacular films.

7.0

Django & Django: Sergio Corbucci Unchained

Nov 15, 2021

A tribute to Italian filmmaker Sergio Corbucci (1926-90), presented by American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.

7.6

Spielberg

Oct 5, 2017

A documentary on the life and career of one of the most influential film directors of all time, Steven Spielberg.

0.0

Doc of Chucky

Nov 1, 2024

The story of the cult horror empire through interviews with cast, crew, and horror icons such as Don Mancini, Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly, Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, John Waters, Fiona Dourif, Perrey Reeves, Gerrit Graham, David Kirschner, and dozens more.

7.2

QT8: The First Eight

Oct 21, 2019

A detailed account of the life and artistic career of legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, from his early days as a video club manager to the scandalous fall in disgrace of producer Harvey Weinstein. A story about how to shoot eight great movies and become an icon of modern pop culture.

6.0

Sous le soleil de Pialat

Oct 18, 2021

In just ten films, Maurice Pialat painfully rose to the top of the cinema, draining into his legend a mad demand for truth as much as memorable fury to achieve it. With "L'Enfance nue", his first feature film at the age of 43, the filmmaker immediately made his mark, this "art of making things authentic", according to Chabrol. But throughout an unclassifiable filmography in the form of an autobiography, from a break-up to his fatherhood in wonder, through the agony of his mother, the filmmaker does not get rid of the feeling of being misunderstood, despite international recognition.