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IMDb > Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997)

Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 3 | slideshow)

Overview

User Rating:
8.2/10   2,099 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 16% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Werner Herzog
Writer:
Werner Herzog (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Little Dieter Needs to Fly on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
2 October 1998 (USA) more
Plot:
In 1966, Dieter Dengler was shot down over Laos, captured, and, down to 85 pounds, escaped. Barefoot... more | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 5 wins & 1 nomination more
User Comments:
a surreal documentary about a German American who needs food and flight more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Dieter Dengler ... Himself

Werner Herzog ... Himself / Narrator (voice)
Eugene Deatrick ... Himself
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Flucht aus Laos (Germany)
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Runtime:
USA:80 min
Country:
France | UK | Germany
Language:
English | German
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Filming Locations:
California, USA more

Fun Stuff

Quotes:
Dieter Dengler: Duane, my friend, he was gone, and from then on my motions, my progress, became mechanical. In fact, I couldn't care less if I would live or die. But then later on, there was this bear, this beautiful bear that was following me. It was circling me in fact sometimes... more
Movie Connections:
Version of "Höllenfahrten: Flucht aus Laos" (1998) more

FAQ

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7 out of 11 people found the following comment useful:-
a surreal documentary about a German American who needs food and flight, 6 August 2002
8/10
Author: stephenksmith (stephenksmith@hotmail.com) from Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.A.

Werner Herzog again explores the psyche of a man. In "Little Dieter...", we meet an effervescent, brilliant man who survived the war in Bavaria seeing starvation and strange sights, moved to the U.S. and fulfilled his dream of being a flier. War, food, death, survival, hoarding, planes, heads coming off... how one American is born. Herzog again sees madness as plane of existence and the surreal blends with the poignant as Herzog himself narratives this psychic travelogue of a German becoming an American who flies prop planes in a late 20th century war where the culmination of technology, pilgrimage and eating out of garbage cans with spoons is melded with constant optimism into a man redefined into American. As always with Herzog we are faced with florid madness, brilliance and what is man in the face of his own excesses, societal and personal. We laugh and cringe and are amazed at this man. Where else for this man but America?

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great doc teejay6682
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