Werner Herzog Praises Borat’s Boldness, Bikini

Werner Herzog has never been shy about his opinions. Saturday afternoon at the Goethe-Institut — during the Q&A session that followed a preview of his upcoming Antarctic documentary, Encounters at the End of the World — he spoke openly about his peers. Herzog endearingly described Michael Moore as having “a wild-boar presence,� and labeled Fahrenheit 911 “a fine propaganda film.� He also praised Borat: “I like it for its political boldness. To wear that style of bikini, I wish I had it in me.� On bad-boy director Harmony Korine, whose Michael Jackson impersonator movie Mister Lonely premieres at Cannes this week, and also features Herzog and David Blaine as priests in the jungle, he offered, “I like this young man. He’s unusually gifted. I try to talk to him about discipline, but he doesn’t listen. But he has a wonderful girlfriend who serves him well.� Finally, he mourned the loss of Anna Nicole Smith, “There’s something momentous about her. I wish I could have done a film with her, but it’s not possible anymore.� We can only imagine Anna Nicole as the new Klaus Kinski, dragging a boat across the jungle. —Mike Bilandic