Fata Morgana / Mirage
Werner Herzog 1969 West Germany (1st time; DVD)
A series of images filmed in and around the Sahara; narration tells the story of a planet's creation.
The opening shots, of planes landing in the desert, each one becoming more and more blurred as the heat of the day increases, is telling as to how abstract, visually arresting this "science-fiction" film really is. As it goes on, the music and images interact profoundly; Herzog pays little attention to narrative cohesion, and instead tries to articulate deep emotions via new visual contexts.

Herz aus Glas / Heart of Glass
Werner Herzog 1976 West Germany (1st time; DVD)
When a glass factory loses a worker, and with him the secret of ruby glass, a pre-industrialist village falls apart, watched by a foreseer of events.
A strained, slow, absorbing piece for which most of the cast was hypnotized. It is an absurd, beautiful film full of memorable moments, such as when Herzog momentarily casts aside plot to document the glass factory workers at work, or when a drunkard dances with the corpse of his best friend, whom he inadvertantly killed the night before. The final moments are up there with Herzog's finest closures.