Fata Morgana (1971) on Netflix
NR19711h 19mDocumentaryDrama
The Sahara and Sahel are filmed as the planet Uxmal, reported on by visitors from the Andromeda Nebula. A narrator recounts the Mayan creation myth over the images.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.6/104,495 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
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Plot summary
Shot in the Sahara and Sahel between November 1968 and December 1969, the film records mirages across the desert and is arranged in three parts: Creation, Paradise and The Golden Age. The opening part passes through desert landscapes, a plane wreck, oil tanks and a city in the hills. A narrator recites a version of the Popol Vuh, the Mayan account of creation. Much of the footage was recorded in long tracking shots taken from the roof of a Volkswagen camper van, with the crew smoothing the road beforehand. The music mixes Handel, Mozart, Couperin, Blind Faith, Leonard Cohen and the Third Ear Band.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Fata Morgana (1971)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While shooting in Cameroon, the crew were imprisoned because cameraman Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein's name resembled that of a German mercenary hiding from the authorities who had been sentenced to death in absentia. They also hit sandstorms and floods.
- The shoot was so arduous that the crew once had to abandon their truck and equipment at a border crossing, and Werner Herzog himself was briefly imprisoned, experiencing beatings and contracting bilharzia.
- Much of Fata Morgana's footage is long tracking shots filmed by cameraman Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein from the top of a Volkswagen camper van driven by Herzog, and the crew smoothed out the road themselves to prepare the shots.
- Herzog first intended Fata Morgana to carry a science fiction narrative, presenting the desert images as landscapes of a dying planet. He dropped the idea as soon as filming began, but realized it later in Lessons of Darkness and The Wild Blue Yonder.
- Fata Morgana's influence lasted: Harmony Korine's 1997 film Gummo has been called a "direct descendant" of it, and its influence is visible in the work of directors Terrence Malick and Claire Denis.
