Destabilising the Ordinary: The Depiction of Reality as Fiction in the Parallel Universes of the Films of Werner Herzog | Katherine Cutts

Summary: Changing the Climate: Utopia, Dystopia and Catastrophe | Katherine Cutts ‘There is no plan B; there is no other planet that we can escape to ...’ proclaimed Kevin Rudd (ex-Prime Minister of Australia) with his circa 2009 comments about human-induced climate change. Herzog intimates the same dire warning in a variety of re-focused environments in many of his films, both documentary and feature. This paper will discuss how the motif of apocalypse endows films such as Fata Morgana (1970), La Soufrière (1977), Where the Green Ants Dream (1984), Lessons of Darkness (1992) and others, with the threat of impending and actual disaster, and how Herzog imbues these cinematic Hausmärchen with a strong sense of the urgency to act to reclaim the earth for its rightful inheritors. Katherine Cutts recently completed a Master of Visual Culture at Monash University, focusing on film theory and criticism. She has an enduring interest in cinema as a powerful creative force. She has taught VCE Media and Studio Arts, and holds a Diploma in Languages (French) from Monash.