Not a Significant Bullet

We here at the AntiC are huge Werner Herzog fans - both his work as a filmmaker and his work as One Of The Most Intriguing People... EVER. Just thought I'd get that out in the open. And he's a minor spectre in two very intriguing stories in the news, so we have to give a mention.

He, of course, was the ghostly figure that came upon Jaoquin Pheonix' upturned car the other night, saving the Johnny Cash wannabe's life:

"I remember this knocking on the passenger window. There was this German voice saying, 'Just relax.' There's the airbag, I can't see and I'm saying, 'I'm fine. I am relaxed. Finally, I rolled down the window and this head pops inside. And he said, 'No, you're not.' And suddenly I said to myself, 'That's Werner Herzog' There's something so calming and beautiful about Werner Herzog's voice. I felt completely fine and safe. I climbed out. I got out of the car and I said, 'Thank you,' and he was gone."

But that's not the best of it. In a BBC interview, following this incident... during the interview... he was shot with an air rifle by a crazed fan [AntiC readers- we're watching you...]. But he is, after all, Werner Herzog. How'd he handle it?

The 63-year-old was chatting with movie journalist Mark Kermode about his documentary Grizzly Man, when a sniper opened fire with an air rifle.

Kermode explains, "I thought a firecracker had gone off.

"Herzog, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, said, 'Oh, someone is shooting at us. We must go.'

"He had a bruise the size of a snooker ball, with a hole in. He just carried on with the interview while bleeding quietly in his boxer shorts."

An unrepentant Herzog insisted, "It was not a significant bullet. I am not afraid."

Wow.

Why isn't this guy running the world, again?