MINNESOTA DECLARATION - Herzog, Werner (1999, 2017)

The Minnesota Declaration Truth and fact in documentary cinema ## [[LESSONS OF DARKNESS\|LESSONS OF DARKNESS]] by [[Werner Herzog\|Werner Herzog]] 1. By dint of declaration the so-called [[Cinéma Vérité is devoid of vérité. It reaches a merely superficial truth, the truth of accountants\|Cinéma Vérité is devoid of vérité. It reaches a merely superficial truth, the truth of accountants]]. 2. One well-known representative of [[Cinéma Vérité\|Cinéma Vérité]] declared publicly that [[Truth (cannot) be easily found by taking a camera and trying to be honest\|truth can be easily found by taking a camera and trying to be honest]]. He resembles the nightwatchman at the Supreme Court who resents the amount of written law and legal procedures. "For me," he says, "there should be only one single law: the bad buys should go to jail." Unfortunately, he is part right, for most of the many, much of the time. 3. [[Cinéma Vérité confounds fact and truth, and thus plows only stones\|Cinéma Vérité confounds fact and truth, and thus plows only stones]]. And yet, [[Facts sometimes have a strange and bizarre power that makes their inherent truth seem unbelievable\|facts sometimes have a strange and bizarre power that makes their inherent truth seem unbelievable]]. 4. [[Fact creates norms, and truth illumination\|Fact creates norms, and truth illumination]]. 5. [[There are deeper strata of truth in cinema\|There are deeper strata of truth in cinema]], and [[There is such a thing as poetic, ecstatic truth\|there is such a thing as poetic, ecstatic truth]]. [[(Ecstatic Truth) is mysterious and elusive, and can be reached only through fabrication and imagination and stylisation\|It is mysterious and elusive, and can be reached only through fabrication and imagination and stylisation]]. 6. [[Filmmakers of Cinéma Vérité resemble tourists who take pictures amid ancient ruins of facts\|Filmmakers of Cinéma Vérité resemble tourists who take pictures amid ancient ruins of facts]]. 7. [[Tourism is sin, and travel on foot virtue\|Tourism is sin, and travel on foot virtue]]. 8. [[Each year at springtime scores of people on snowmobiles crash through the melting ice on the lakes of Minnesota and drown. Pressure is mounting on the new governor to pass a protective law\|Each year at springtime scores of people on snowmobiles crash through the melting ice on the lakes of Minnesota and drown. Pressure is mounting on the new governor to pass a protective law]]. [[Ventura, Jesse\|He, the former wrestler and bodyguard]], has the only sage answer to this: "[[You can't legislate stupidity\|You can't legislate stupidity]]." 9. [[The gauntlet is hereby thrown down\|The gauntlet is hereby thrown down]]. 10. [[The moon is dull. Mother Nature doesn't call, doesn't speak to you, although a glacier eventually farts. And don't you listen to the Song of Life.\|The moon is dull. Mother Nature doesn't call, doesn't speak to you, although a glacier eventually farts. And don't you listen to the Song of Life.]] 11. [[We ought to be grateful that the Universe out there knows no smile\|We ought to be grateful that the Universe out there knows no smile]]. 12. [[Life in the oceans must be sheer hell. A vast, merciless hell of permanent and immediate danger\|Life in the oceans must be sheer hell. A vast, merciless hell of permanent and immediate danger]]. So much of a hell that [[During evolution some species – including man – crawled, fled onto some small continents of solid land, where the Lessons of Darkness continue\|during evolution some species – including man – crawled, fled onto some small continents of solid land, where the Lessons of Darkness continue]]. Walker Art Center Minneapolis, Minnesota 30 April 1999 ## ADDENDUM by [[Herzog, Werner\|Werner Herzog]], [[170619Mon]] I. [[With the arrival of the new term “alternative facts” in the political arena, the question of facts and the question of truth have acquired an unexpected urgency\|With the arrival of the new term “alternative facts” in the political arena, the question of facts and the question of truth have acquired an unexpected urgency]]. II. [[Facts cannot be underestimated as they have normative power. But they do not give us insight into the truth, or the illumination of poetry\|Facts cannot be underestimated as they have normative power. But they do not give us insight into the truth, or the illumination of poetry]]. [[Yes, accepted, the phone directory of Manhattan contains four million entries, all of them factually verifiable. But do we know why Jonathan Smith, correctly listed, cries into his pillow every night?\|Yes, accepted, the phone directory of Manhattan contains four million entries, all of them factually verifiable. But do we know why Jonathan Smith, correctly listed, cries into his pillow every night?]] III. [[The argument of rearranging facts constituting a lie points only to shallow thinking and the fetish of self-reference\|The argument of rearranging facts constituting a lie points only to shallow thinking and the fetish of self-reference]]. IV. [[Patron Saints of the Minnesota Declaration\|Patron Saints of the Minnesota Declaration]]: [[QUOTE - Shakespeare, William - As you Like It A3S3 - “The truest poetry is the most feigning”\|William Shakespeare: “The most truthful poetry is the most feigning.”]] V. [[André Gide\|André Gide:]] [[QUOTE - Herzog, Werner - “I modify facts in such a way that they resemble truth more than reality”\|“I modify facts in such a way that they resemble truth more than reality.”]] VI. [[Michelangelo\|Michelangelo]]: Taking a good look at his [[Michelangelo's statue of the Pietà, (taking a good look) we notice that Jesus taken from the cross is a man of 33, but his mother is only 17\|statue of the Pietà, we notice that Jesus taken from the cross is a man of 33, but his mother is only 17]]. [[Does Michelangelo lie to us? Does he mislead us? Does he defraud us?\|Does Michelangelo lie to us? Does he mislead us? Does he defraud us?]] He just shows us the [[truth, innermost\|innermost truth]] about the [[Jesus, Man of Sorrows\|Man of Sorrows]], and his mother, [[The Virgin Mary\|the Virgin]]. ## ALSO - [[Herzog, Werner]] - [[1999-04-30-Fri]] - [[BOOK - Herzog, Werner - A Guide for the Perplexed - Conversations with Paul Cronin (2019, 2014, 2002)]] - Pg. 476/477 - [[US MN, Minneapolis - Walker Art Center]] - [WALKER ART - Werner Herzog Reads His Minnesota Declaration: Truth and Fact in Documentary Cinema](https://www.walkerart.org/reader/minnesota-declaration-truth-documentary-cinema-1999/) - [WALKER ART - Werner Herzog Makes Trump-Era Addition to His Minnesota Declaration](https://www.walkerart.org/reader/werner-herzog-minnesota-declaration-2017-addendum/)