An involving documentary from Baxblog fave Werner Herzog.
A bit of synchronicity- I picked it up the day before a fraught meeting with my mom. I've gone over the Herzog section at the Insomniac a thousand times and never seen this one until it fell into my hand.
When it comes to documentaries the subject is irrelevant, the star for me is Herzog's mesmerizing voice. He fits that old saw about the vocalist who can sing the phone book- Werner could read a list of neocon talking points and have me nodding along in a trance. It's fortunate that he uses his amazing powers only for good.
This one is a winner.
Herzog is in fine voice, and the topic (Tibetan pilgrimage) is fascinating and completely unknown to me. It also delivers an apropos life lesson, like a uniquely uplifting episode of the Cosby Show sans schmaltz.
Worth a rental for the scene where Herzog leans all his humorless Teutonic gravity behind the question "is this tree really the center of the universe?" and the Dali Lama can't respond without laughing.
Good stuff, with plenty of typically brilliant Herzog shot framing.
Two thumbs up.
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