It was worth the shot. Three thoughts on Fireball:
1) I am sure his intentions were good, but Werner Herzog manages to turn an interesting subject into a tedious documentary that, despite running for one hour and a half, overstays its welcome a bit. The big reason for this is how he chooses to structure it: we jump from one segment to the other, with some being longer than others, and it is like this until the end. The worst aspect of this is that some of these parts focus more on the religious/ holistic side, and the rest are more science based, creating a dissonance that stops the viewer from fully absorbing the information.
2) The way the interviews happen throughout Fireball is interesting, because they feel natural. You will not see an interview with someone in a chair, with a dark background, spitting facts non-stop. Instead, you have natural conversations in places that are of great importance to the documentary and Herzog's camerawork makes you feel part of them.
3) Herzog's narration style is just tedious. His dictation is clear enough for you to understand what is being said, but his tone and uninspired speech is what makes one feel bored. There are times when it feels like he is dragging this speech for much longer than he should, when he could have said the exact same thing while resorting to fewer words and a clearer narration.
P.S.: Overall, it was an interesting watch, but also a muddled one. I wanted to like it more than I did, because the subject matter is appealing, but the narrative structure and Herzog's speech did not help.
It was worth the shot. Three thoughts on Fireball:
1) I am sure his intentions were good, but Werner Herzog manages to turn an interesting subject into a tedious documentary that, despite running for one hour and a half, overstays its welcome a bit. The big reason for this is how he chooses to structure it: we jump from one segment to the other, with some being longer than others, and it is like this until the end. The worst aspect of this is that some of these parts focus more on the religious/ holistic side, and the rest are more science based, creating a dissonance that stops the viewer from fully absorbing the information.
2) The way the interviews happen throughout Fireball is interesting, because they feel natural. You will not see an interview with someone in a chair, with a dark background, spitting facts non-stop. Instead, you have natural conversations in places that are of great importance to the documentary and Herzog's camerawork makes you feel part of them.
3) Herzog's narration style is just tedious. His dictation is clear enough for you to understand what is being said, but his tone and uninspired speech is what makes one feel bored. There are times when it feels like he is dragging this speech for much longer than he should, when he could have said the exact same thing while resorting to fewer words and a clearer narration.
P.S.: Overall, it was an interesting watch, but also a muddled one. I wanted to like it more than I did, because the subject matter is appealing, but the narrative structure and Herzog's speech did not help.
