Keep in mind the audience are late boomers and not into “weird” movies, aka, my parents
Fitzcarraldo.
Go big or go home.
Followed by the documentary about making it.
Lesson of Darkness is really cool. It’s more like a meditative art piece than a documentary. I really liked it. I remember Herzog shot it from the perspective of an astronaut discovering an alien race on an alien planet.
It’s just the aftermath of the Gulf War where they began burning the oil fields and it looks like something from a sci-fi. There are haunting interviews with the victims of the war. It’s truly such a beautiful film that you just take in and experience.
Grizzly Man
Could be bias I suppose, but this one has a proven track record in my experience. Not only was it my introduction to Herzog, but I’ve had very good success getting other people on board with his particular documentarian style.
That episode of the Boondocks
That episode of Rick and Morty.
This is the last one they should see. For real cinema fans only
Nosferatu, Phantom der Nacht
Or Fitzcarraldo or Aguirre…
So hard to choose!
I would show the old Kinski fiction movies first…
Rescue Dawn will get them hooked, especially if they’re boomers. After that, you can blow their minds that that was the work of one of film history’s great documentarians. Show them Lessons of Darkness. Most people have a visceral response to that imagery as it was not covered well when it occurred. You could start to delve into his Kinski era stuff after that, the obsessive narratives. He has more contemporary documentaries that are like watching nature specials to follow.
My best fiend. No contest.
If you hate that, you’ll hate all of his works tbh.
I go with this one on second thought.
