Werner Herzog is a pillar of cinema—a pioneer known for his prolific output, quick wit, and uncommon approach to film. He’s a guy who brings a true sense of uniqueness to an industry increasingly overrun with superheroes. But what does he have to do with skateboarding?
Technically speaking, nothing. Werner has no background in skating. But I believe he is one of us.
This suspicion started a couple of years ago when I stumbled upon Werner Herzog – A Guide for the Perplexed. Not knowing much about him I skimmed the back cover, which eerily read like a skater’s manifesto. Werner preaches maxims like getting the shot by any means necessary, carrying bolt cutters everywhere, and thwarting institutional cowardice with guerrilla tactics. His film school teaches lock picking, forgery, and his entire career has been built on a DIY approach to life, his craft banged into existence through decades of trial and failure.
Because Werner’s approach to life and filmmaking mirrors the ethos of skating in so many ways, I decided to track him down to chat about the similarities and differences between our two worlds.
Related Posts
-
JENK TV: FRED GALL GETS A NEW MATTRESS
To celebrate Fred's 1st year of sobriety it only makes sense that we give him the gift of a good night’s sleep.
-
MEET OUR ILLUSTRATOR, MICHAEL GIURATO
If you ever wondered who drew some of the mindless illustrations in our articles, this is the guy you’re looking for.
-
INVESTIGATING BRANDON WESTGATE
He makes our entire generation look like a bunch of internet dependent whiners
-
DID BILLY ROHAN HAVE A TALK WITH DONALD TRUMP?
After Politico reported it, we called Billy Rohan up to see if he actually met with the real-life Cheeto Man.
-
WASTED MEMORIES WITH CHRIS NIERATKO
Although Chris Nieratko has gotten softer in his age, he's still one of our favorite dudes because he writes about the shit we care about: skateboarding and porn.
-
THE MARC JOHNSON INTERVIEW
The longest, most personal and most controversial interview we've ever published on the site.
-
THE EARTHERS EP.3 – SKATING GIANT BANKS IN MICHIGAN
We took the quarantine as an opportunity to get out of New York and take the Google Earthers segment to new horizons.
-
BIG BROTHER MAGAZINE: WASTED MEMORIES OF STAFF WRITER EARL PARKER
A bunch of skateboarders ran a magazine in the 90's with no rules, no censorship, no experience and their own private skate park. The perfect mix between genius and totally fucked.
January 25, 2021 3:39 pm
Herzog Town and Z-Boys
January 25, 2021 3:50 pm
Blown away that you all made this happen. Werner is a “legend” in the true sense of the word.
January 25, 2021 3:52 pm
Wow – the crossover we never knew we needed. I find him really inspirational. That book looks great. I loved his musings on skateboarding from an outsider, and from someone with such an amazing approach to life and creating.
Thank you, Jenkem!
January 25, 2021 4:48 pm
best thing you’ve done — more film content plz