Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997)

German-American Dieter Dengler discusses his service as a U.S. naval pilot in the Viet Nam War. Dengler also revisits the sites of his capture and eventual escape from the hands of the Viet Cong, recreating many events for the camera.

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog

Stars:

Dieter Dengler, Werner Herzog, Eugene Deatrick

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 5 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dieter Dengler	...	Himself
Werner Herzog	...	Himself - Narrator (voice)
Eugene Deatrick	...	Himself

Storyline

In 1966, Dieter Dengler was shot down over Laos, captured, and, down to 85 pounds, escaped. Barefoot, surviving monsoons, leeches, and machete-wielding villagers, he was rescued. Now, near 60, living on Mt. Tamalpais, Dengler tells his story: a German lad surviving Allied bombings in World War II, postwar poverty, apprenticed to a smith, beaten regularly. At 18, he emigrates and peels potatoes in the U.S. Air Force. He leaves for California and college, then enlistment in the Navy to learn to fly. A quiet man of sorrows tells his story: war, capture, harrowing conditions, escape, and miraculous rescue. Where did he find the strength; how does he now live with his memories?

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Plot Keywords:

escape | vietnam | vietnam war | vietcong | pilot | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | Drama | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany UK France

Language:

English German

Release Date:

2 October 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Flucht aus Laos

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), ZDF Enterprises

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film begins with this quote: "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it, and shall desire to die and death shall flee from them. - Revelation 9:6".

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Goofs

The Movie Poster shows what's actually a German Luftwaffe aircraft painted with US markings.

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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. It was gone and I missed it. It was just like a dog, it was just like a pet. Of course I knew this bear was there, he was waiting to eat me. When I think about it, this bear meant death to me. And it is really ironic. That's the ...

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Alternate Versions

The DVD release adds an epilogue which tells of Dieter Dengler's death from ALS in February 2001 and shows footage of his burial at Arlington National Cemetary.

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Connections

Version of Höllenfahrten: Flucht aus Laos (1998)

User Reviews

Fascinating, even if it doesn't completely gel in all respects

The movie is mainly a monologue, with glimpses of Dieter's life nowadays, but built in its central section around the somewhat bizarre device of having him return to the jungle with a band of Vietnamese who partly reenact his experiences - he demonstrates torture techniques, the march through the jungle etc. Herzog is too much a filmmaker to be satisfied with mere memories it seems - he must also see: although with full knowledge that this form of retrospective seeing will be inescapably somewhat bizarre. Dieter's past traumas and current stability (although he's still preoccupied by the idea of closed doors and is still hoarding vast unneeded emergency food supplies - the former seems a bit staged, but that's part of the intrigue) seem to chime with Herzog's own past glories and now relative reduced state, and the title with its obviously childish edge has an air of longing and acknowledgment of past fantasies and their fatal possibilities. But despite the true pain of the monologue, Herzog doesn't dwell on adversity, but rather on the ultimate grandeur (for example, the final image of thousands of military planes parked in the desert) - in which context his movie seems to fall short of the true cosmic resonance of some of Errol Morris' work. But he coaxes Dieter's story expertly and has the classic strengths of a good story-teller, and the movie's quite fascinating even if it doesn't completely gel in all respects.