Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Mein liebster Feind" or "My Best Fiend" is a West German documentary film from 1999 and writer and director closed the old millennium on a very personal and very convincing note with this 95-minute film here. The main character of this film is occasionally listed as well in the title. It is the blonde acting infant terrible Klaus Kinski. He had already been dead for five years when this movie was made and it is somehow Herzog's farewell to his longtime collaborator. The duo worked together on a handful of film's that are widely considered among the finest from Herzog's and Kinski's bodies of work. Watching this film we find out that Herzog also brought a certain deal of insanity himself that helped him with coping of the character that was Kinski. And of course, Herzog also brought a great deal of dedication and this becomes obvious in several scenes here. One would be when Herzog tells us in one scene how Kinski was so angry he was about to leave the set and not return in the middle of filmmaking, when Herzog grabbed a gun and told Kinski he would not get very far before Herzog puts eight bullets in Kinski's head and one in his own. This part describes the documentary very well. A lot of it is about the creative clashing between the two protagonists and how insanity was always very close to genius in their cases. Herzog plays a big role of course as he is narrating this one and his fate is linked closely to Kinski's, but you never feel that this documentary is about anybody else than Klaus Kinski.Herzog travels to all kinds of places where he and Kinski worked together in the past, especially film locations, but also to places that just united him in a different manner. One example for the latter would be the apartment in the very first scenes. Herzog tells us how he kept verbally abusing everybody in there when he lived in this apartment and how he destroyed the bathroom in his rage and attacked a journalist. The journalist called Kinski excellent and Kinski lost it and attacked the man saying he was not excellent he was God-like. So yeah, this is a recurring theme in here. Kinski was an egomaniac of the worst kind and Herzog keeps mentioning scenario in which Kinski proved it again and again. There are also interviews with people Kinski acted together in Herzog's films, such as Eva Mattes and Claudia Cardinale. These two describe a very different Klaus Kinski, a sensitive, fragile man who was very shy at times. Maybe this is what Kinski was like towards his female co-actors. But it somehow fits and I almost never had the expression that Herzog or anybody else was making things up in here although Herzog easily could have taking into account how a great storyteller he is.All in all, this was a tremendous documentary I think. It told us in detail about the extremes that made Kinski such a unique character and actor. And you have to decide for yourself if this was a good or bad thing. Nobody probably could have told it better than Herzog because of all the time the two spent together and the film is a mix of current (well from 1999) video recordings and old recordings that show Kinski in action, for example how he attacks crew members or also scenes from his one-man stage performance as Jesus. We find out that Kinski often did not manage to get out of character in time for future projects and the attacks I just mentioned frequently happened when he did not learn his lines properly, so he would try to blame other uninvolved people to hope nobody recognizes his failures. Of course, this documentary was made before these accusations about pedophilia and incest from one of his daughters, which put the character into an entirely different light if these are true. I think it is impossible to separate the private person Klaus Kinski from the actor Klaus Kinski, but maybe this is the reason that allowed him to reach great high and give stunning performances again and again. I don't know. But I do know that I highly recommend these slightly under 100 minutes. A must-see for everybody who likes Kinski and/or Herzog.

batistuta789 As mentioned in other reviews and as already communicated by the film title, this documentary offers a very subjective view on Kinskis personality: Kinski as seen and as "utilized" by the director Werner Herzog. The film describes Herzogs artistic vision of filmmaking and the rough personality Kinski contributed to this mission. By doing this, it is at least a fascinating documentary about filmmaking itself.It's obvious that Kinski with his impulsive, uncut and nearly superhuman presence that nearly blows up the screen is the prototype actor for the typical Herzog protagonist: a man whose over-individuality tears him apart from the human society and whose untamed passion only finds a metaphoric equivalent in the wild and uncivilized nature - in which he will finally collapse; well, at least in most cases. The documentary gives impressive evident for Kinski being this ideal candidate by comparing alternate scenes from Fitzcarraldo, one with Kinski as Fitzcarraldo and one with Mick Jagger. Jagger, a charismatic wild-man on stage, ends up as a harmless milksop when compared with Kinskis furious insanity.However, it seems that Herzog still wants to watch Kinski through the eyes of the director, not allowing too much deviation from the intended role. This becomes obvious in a short dialog with actress Eva Mattes, who describes Kinski as a polite, shy and 100% professional person. Herzogs reaction can be paraphrased as "But wasn't he also a madman?" Biographical research or psychological analysis are not the matter of this film. The reason is simple and becomes obvious during the movie: while showing some kind of "best-of-Kinski" moments, the documentary focuses more and more on Herzog himself and his mission, and in one scene Herzog will happily tell that he is a little bit insane, too.So, his approach to this documentary is rather comparable to the great films he made with Kinski: Kinski is the headliner and catalyst for Herzogs artistic vision to accomplish the 'impossible' gesamtkunstwerk: realizing filmmaking in a hostile environment, revealing the unseen and pushing everyone involved to his individual limits.With many unreleased flicks from film shootings and Kinski stage shows, interviews with involved actors and staff and some very intense shots (butterfly scene), this film is nevertheless highly recommendable to all Herzog / Kinski followers.

funkyfry This is an interesting documentary, at least for those like myself who have seen and are fans of the cycle of films starring Klaus Kinski and directed by Werner Herzog, who helms this largely autobiographical and highly subjective documentary as well. It retraces the steps of their friendship to unlikely places such as a boarding house in Germany where Kinski shared lodgings with the adolescent Herzog and his family. It follows the production of each of the 5 films Herzog and Kinski made together in order, spending perhaps 15 or 20 minutes on each.There is some very fascinating footage here from the filming of both "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" and "Fitzcarraldo", the duo's most impressive collaborations. Also Herzog interviews various co-stars such as Claudia Cardinale (who recalls an odd episode where Kinski became very frustrated with a small animal) and Eva Mattes (who brings up a poignant story about Kinski mentoring her in a moment of distress while filming "Woyzchek"). Herzog travels to some of the locations where they filmed in South America and recalls Kinski's sometimes extravagant demands.A lot of interesting aspects of Kinski's craft emerge, such as his way of entering the frame with a swivel to avoid showing the side of his profile, and his seemingly unstoppable need for drama. But the film on the whole is about Herzog and Kinski working together, not about Kinski himself. It's about a work relationship and a friendship, and if we're to believe Herzog the two of them sat together thinking up insults of Herzog for Kinski's autobiography. There have been many great collaborations in cinema, but few where the two artists so often attempted to anger or even kill each other. Herzog and Kinski seem to have seen each other as insufferable egomaniacs, and Herzog describes how Kinski would create tension on the set to ensure that all attention was focused on him. At times Herzog says that he instigated arguments with Kinski because it was the only way to get Kinski's energy down to a level appropriate for the character, specifically on "Aguirre." And Kinski's anger, which we witness in more than one filmed tirade, is indeed a thing of terror and strange beauty.Fascinating film for fans, and I even suspect that those with no familiarity at all with these films will want to seek them out afterward.

ElijahCSkuggs A documentary of the tumultuous relationship between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski may sound like a boring, foreign look into the past, for those unaware of such names, but nothing could be further from the truth.No the film is not exciting, nor is it eye-opening. The film doesn't bring to light what many of us all already know about Herzog or Kinski, but regardless of its shortcomings, My Best Fiend is still a great movie about a friendship that saw ups and plenty of downs.Director Herzog is a genius; actor Kinski is one as well. Their relationship is one of hate and love, respect and tolerance. The movies they made were acts of attrition, physically, emotionally, and occasionally financially.Through Herzog's delicate tracings of their career together, it was clear that behind the death threats, the yelling, the arguing, and the disdain, both men had an amazing affinity for one another.Kinski was the catalyst for such a partnership, as his mad style of acting and living seemed to make life dangerous and interesting all at the same time.I am amazed Kinski was never honored with a nomination for an Oscar. He must be one of the best character actors in history. Though I'm sure he believed himself to be the best, and would naturally scoff at any awards thrown his way.Great study on a pair of friends whose love/hate created some of cinema's finest works.