Werner Herzog's work is some of the most incredible material ever contributed to the history of cinema and I consider this film to be amongst the finest of the roughly 35 films of his I've seen. This documentary about a man obsessed (of course) with his project of building a large air- balloon to explore the canopy of the jungle is handled in a style that feels like Werner has it down to a clockwork. A passionate, refined, beautiful clockwork that is. It's amazing how poetic and lyrical the images in this film are and all of Herzog's ranting about finding an "ecstatic truth" really comes full swing here. The film isn't so much about the man - or the balloon. It's the film as a whole that is somehow magically able to reflect the bigger questions about the world and our place in it. It's amazing that this shot-on-video minimalist film with a somewhat sloppy narrative is so powerful. Better than Grizzly Man, Wheel of Time and Little Dieter. Wow.
Review of The White Diamond
