My Best Fiend - Klaus Kinski (1999) Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski (original title)

Director:

Werner Herzog

Release Date:

7 October 1999 (Germany)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

In the 1950s, a teenage Werner Herzog was transfixed by a film performance of the young Klaus Kinski...

Plot Keywords:

Shouting | Reminiscences | Hysterics | Excess | South America

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Werner Herzog	...	Himself - Narrator / Interviewer (also archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Claudia Cardinale	...	Herself
Justo González	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Mick Jagger	...	Himself - Wilbur (archive footage)
Klaus Kinski	...	Himself (archive footage)
Eva Mattes	...	Herself
Thomas Mauch	...	Himself
Benino Moreno Placido	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Beat Presser	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jason Robards	...	Fitzcarraldo (archive footage)
Guillermo Ríos	...	Himself (archive footage)
Walter Saxer	...	Himself (archive footage)
Baron van der Recke	...	Himself
Baronin van der Recke	...	Herself
Andrés Vicente	...	Himself (archive footage)

Directed by
Werner Herzog

Produced by
Christine Ruppert	....	executive producer
Andre Singer	....	executive producer (as André Singer)
Lucki Stipetic	....	producer
James Mitchell	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Sabine Rollberg	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Popol Vuh

Cinematography by
Peter Zeitlinger

Film Editing by
Joe Bini

Production Design by
Ulrich Bergfelder

Production Management
Ulrich Bergfelder	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Herbert Golder	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Dave Nelson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Hubertus Rath	....	sound mixer
Josh Rosen	....	audio editor
Chris Simon	....	additional sound services
Eric Spitzer	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Les Blank	....	additional camera
Erik Söllner	....	assistant camera
Silvia Vas	....	still photographer
Werner Janoud	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Anthony Greenberg	....	post production assistant
Renate Hähmer	....	assistant editor (as Renate Hähner)
Thad Povey	....	assistant editor
Thomas Staunton	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Monika Kostinek	....	administration
Anja Schmidt-Zäringer	....	continuity
David Silberberg	....	archive researcher

Thanks
Claudia Cardinale	....	thanks
Justo González	....	thanks
Eva Mattes	....	thanks
Bill Pence	....	thanks
Benino Moreno Placido	....	thanks
Beat Presser	....	thanks
Guillermo Ríos	....	thanks
Baron van der Recke	....	thanks
Baronin van der Recke	....	thanks
José Koechlin von Stein	....	thanks (as José Kocchlin von Stein)

Production Companies

• Werner Herzog Filmproduktion (co-production)
• Cafe Productions Ltd. (co-production)
• Zephir Film (co-production)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (for)
• Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) (in collaboration with)
• Arte (in collaboration with)
• Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) (in collaboration with)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (in collaboration with)
• Independent Film Channel (IFC) (with the participation of)
• Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen (with the support of)

Distributors

• Sherlock Media S.L. (2000) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Stamm Film AG (2000) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Zephir Film (1999) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Al!ve AG (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Altomedia. Co. Ltd. (Korea) (DVD)
• Altomedia. Co. Ltd. (Korea) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Capelight Pictures (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Eurozoom (France)
• Future Film (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Manga Films (2000) (Spain) (all media)
• New Yorker Films (USA) (subtitled)
• Pandora Films
• Ripley's Home Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD) (boxed set)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• mediacs AG (2002) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• CinePostproduction  sound post-production

Also Known As:

"Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski" - Germany (original title)
"My Best Fiend" - Europe (English title), International (English title) (alternative title), UK (imdb display title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Germany | UK | Finland | USA

Language:

German | English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Australia:PG

Company:

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

Quotes:

Kinski:I am not the Jesus of the official church who the police, bankers, judges, hangmen, officers, church bosses and other powerful people tolerate. I am not your Superstar.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Herzog: The Wrath of Klaus (2012)

Kinski mega-mix

I like this documentary and recommend owning it. There are so many scenes that one can jump to to find Kinski's leering face and saying something fantastic. I believe that he somehow opened up his third eye and could no longer see most of the world that we live in. ----Or am I being fooled--- either way, Kinski has left his mark or should I say scar across the face of theatre and film. My only wish is that someone somewhere compiles a volume set of his greatest scenes ranging from a star performance in a well considered artful Herzog film to all of his 'B' movie bombs.

I still enjoy hearing Herzog imitating Kinski and saying, "I was Monumental I was Epical!!!!" ---and his description in the beginning of the doc. when he throws a tantrum that lasts for several days, destroying everything in the bathroom to the point where you could pass every bit through a tennis racket.

That is power. Watch it and believe.