"A Film by Werner Herzog" "I. Creation" "And it is told how once, the earth swayed in deep quiet, swayed in deep silence, rested in stillness, softly rocking, and lay there, lonely and void." "And this is the first testimony, the first word." "There was no man, nor beast, fowl, fish, crab, tree, stone, cave, gorge, tuft of grass, nor bush." "Only the heavens were there." "Invisible was the face of the earth." "Only the seas gathered under the firmament." "That was all." "Nothing was there to take form or become audible, nothing to move, trickle, or rush under the firmament." "There was only the nothingness." "Only the waters gathered together, only the sea lay calmly there, one single surging sea." "Truly nothing was there, which might otherwise have existed." "Only the creatress was there and the creator, the Mighty and Cucumatz," "Herself, the child-bearer and the begetter of sons, were there upon the unfathomable waters." "Omniscient and omnipotent was their essence." "And likewise there truly was Heaven, and also the Heart of Heaven." "This is the name of the God." "This is how He is named." "And His word came thither unto the Mighty and to Cucumatz, where there was darkness and night, and talked to the Mighty and to Cucumatz." "And they talked and bethought themselves, and considered carefully, took counsel among themselves and brought their words and considerations into accord." "There emerged from their plans the dawning of a light and the conception of man." "And then they pondered the sprouting, the growing of trees and creepers." "The springing up of life and the creation of mankind in darkness and night." "On the strength of Him, who is the Heart of Heaven and whose name is Huracan." "Huracan-Flash-Of-Lightning is his first appearance, the second is Tom-Thumb-Lightning, the third, at last, is Green-Lightning." "By these three is the Heart of Heaven encompassed." "And they came to the Mighty and to Cucumatz and considered light and life." "In what manner shall life be sown and how shall light shine?" "Who shall be our ward and keeper?" "O that it may come to pass!" "This thou shalt ponder!" "Recede, O ye waters, abate ye from the earth!" "Let there be earth and her union and she shall become level so that life can be sown, so that light shall be in heaven and on earth." "For there is no splendour, nor renown, nor glory in this, our work, our creation, lest man be built, man be created." "Thus spake they." "And earth was created by them." "Yes, indeed, thus it came forth." "So that earth might come forth, they said," "Earth, and at once it appeared." "Merely like a cloud, like unto a haze when it first took shape, in its first manifestation." "Then the mountains were heard rising out of the waters and they were majestic, instantly." "And Cucumatz rejoiced." "It was good that thou camest down unto us, thou Heart of Heaven, thou Huracan, thou Tom-Thumb-Lightning, thou Green-Lightning!" "Our creation and our work will be well-made, spake they." "Earth, the mountains, the plains thus came forth." "And everywhere the courses of the rivers were set." "They meandered and wound at the foot of the mountains and between them." "Well-parted the rivers were after the high mountains had come forth into light." "Thus came this earth into being." "And further, they now thought out the beasts of the mountains, the keepers of all forests, the inhabitants of the mountains, the stag, fowl, puma, and jaguar, the snake, rattlesnake, and viper, the wards of the creepers." "And the child-bearer and the begetter of the sons spake." "Shall it be all void?" "Shall it be all still under the trees and creepers?" "Would not it be wise now to have somebody watch over them?" "spake they, bethinking themselves and taking counsel the one with the other." "At once the stag and the fowl were shaped and now they showed the stag and the fowl their habitation." "Thou, stag, shalt sleep near the course of the river, in the gorges, here thou shalt dwell, betwixt grass-bushels and herbs." "In the forests shalt thou multiply!" "Let it be so!" "they said unto them." "Then the small birds and the big birds received their abode." "Ye birds of the tree tops and the creepers, may ye dwell and nest here!" "Here may ye breed and multiply on the branches of the trees and on the tendrils and creepers." "So it was told to the stags and the fowl." "Thus was the earth haunted by them and each was given his bed and his resting place." "In this manner, the child-bearer and begetter of sons gave the beasts of the earth their habitation." "Thus all the stags and fowl became alive." "And the stags and fowl were told by the creatress and the creator, by the child-bearer and the begetter of sons," "Speak orderly." "Do not clamour or shout without sense." "Speak coherently, everyone in his manner, everyone after his family, everyone after his kind." "However, it came to pass that they spake not as human beings would." "When the creatress and creator heard that they failed to speak as human beings do, they said to each other," "They have not in the least mastered the calling of our names, although we are their constructors and their creators." "That is not in order." "Therefore the creatress and the creator essayed once more to build living beings, to make moving creatures." "Without fail, let us try anew!" "Time drew near for the dissemination of man and for the illumination." "Let us build ourselves a keeper!" "The flesh of man was made of tzite wood, but when woman was carved by the creatress and the creator, the flesh of woman was made of reed grass marrow." "But still the creatures were without sense." "They spake not before the face of their creatress and their creator, who made them, who formed them." "And so were they destroyed, drowned." "For their sakes, the face of the earth was darkened." "There reigned a rain-darkness, pelting rain by day and pelting rain by night." "Small beasts and big beasts flocked together." "Trees and rocks cried shame upon them." "They determined to climb up the huts but the huts made them tumble, and they fell." "They determined to hide in the caves but the caves closed before them." "In this manner, the second destruction of the beings formed or created like man took place, of the beings which are doomed to perish, to fall." "They were extinguished they were all, root and branch, destroyed." "II." "Paradise" "Now Flying Robert appears small at the horizon, umbrella in hand, his hair teased by the wind, wet through and shaken, rigid and sad like no other." "In Paradise, you cross the sand without seeing your shadow." "There is a landscape even without deeper meaning." "Paradise is available to everybody." "In Paradise, only God is looking on." "There, you cross the sand without seeing your face." "There is landscape even without deeper meaning." "The gates of Paradise are open to everybody." "There, works are inspected which no one would do." "There, you dig holes without stumbling on man." "There, you slake lime and are chosen for this task by the rich." "There, men cast a shadow in spite of the scorching sun." "Afterwards, rare animals were seen there." "I only have 16 years left to explore how these monitors can endure the heat of the sun and still find food." "They live off of the few living beings that exist in this desert, smaller lizards and mice who, in the daytime, are hidden away in their burrows in the sand." "They are generally large predators, which you can see by the many flies which are gathering here." "I've already been away from Germany for 15 years." "Dear Eugen, we have received your letter." "How are you?" "How's life in the hot country?" "How are you?" "Isn't it too hot there?" "When are you coming back?" "Yes, I am coming back." "A dime." "A dime." "Five bucks or nothing." "Well, there are certain species of fat-tailed sheep which we count on a lot." "They can endure such incredible temperatures of approximately 122°F and 140°F." "But there are only a few." "Some birds are able to cool down by taking flight." "But otherwise, you hardly find any life here." "The desert doesn't make it easy to catch these animals." "For days, you have to march through the dunes and the wind to find the monitors." "Individual animals run away at incredible speeds and try to escape into their burrows." "And then you have to dig them out with a shovel in this heat." "It's not fun." "But then again, what wouldn't you do to find out about these animals?" "In Paradise, roasted pigeons fly directly into your mouth." "There, you enjoy yourself without being forced to." "There, enjoyment means obligation." "In enjoyment, man finds himself in Paradise." "The Blitzkrieg is insanity." "In Paradise, even gentiles move mountains." "There, wars are prevented by mothers." "There, you expect herons from the left." "In Paradise, ruins mean happiness." "There, you find gates without borders." "In Paradise, plane wrecks have been distributed in the desert in advance." "There, the landscape is as God has commanded it to be." "In Paradise, you call hello without seeing anybody." "There, you quarrel with strangers to avoid having friends." "In Paradise, man is born dead." "While you are sleeping, acids gnaw and leeches suck at the tuna fish." "While you are dreaming, an apple from a tree falls onto your brow." "While you are waiting, trains break in two." "You breathe softly, as though you were dead." "While you recline, carelessly strewn stars look out into space." "While you are sleeping, God softly walks over the fields with Maria." "III." "The Golden Age" "In the Golden Age, man and wife live in harmony." "Now, for example, they appear before the lens of the camera, death in their eyes, a smile on their faces, a finger in the pie." "Running, they train themselves harder and harder." "Weightlifting, too, is rewarding." "Unforgettable, however, remains a jump from the lighthouse." "In the Golden Age, traces of Paradise can still be discerned." "Here, for example, a boat once landed." "Furiously, the waves beat against the shore." "In the background, smoke is rising, that is to say, not even worse than you expected." "Stones that were cast do not return by themselves." "In the Golden Age, man does not forget to pray, lest God's end be uncomely." "More than by death, even, blessing and curses, man is perturbed by smoke over the world." "Beneath the earth, the children have found a fire." "And now the parents wish suddenly to return to houses of stone." "That's enough, even one of these thoughts would have done." "And yet, you're forcing harvests from this mysterious soil." "Its thriving brings pain as well as joy to the field workers." "It's difficult not to encounter a camel on the wayside, typically harnessed as a pack, work, or riding animal." "Riding animal!" "And here, as soon as we turn to the right, the visitor's joy is gone." "The view is horrifying, and almost, silence is necessary." "Prepared for something, we ask ourselves," "Where are we going?" "And silence is the answer." "We're gliding through the landscape and it seems as if this tragic mission of strange beauty, yet otherwise hell, will never end." "We cannot withstand this sight for long, and an inner voice urges us to look at the vigorous plant growth that we are forcing from the earth." "What can we learn from the turtle?" "She has four fins which she uses to move forward." "She has a hard shell and a hard belly." "Here she has the head with the mouth where she eats." "And she has a rear end where it comes out again." "I'm going to get her again." "There is nothing like the Peace of the Golden Age." "War is proclaimed dead by Peace." "Nothing is as great as the sand." "Nothing is as great as the Peace." "The land is entranced with Peace."