Culture Cinema: Documentaries Before Dawn ; Werner Herzog Weekend at Mac

Summary

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Until last year's Grizzly Man, it had been over two decades since (with Fitzcarral-do) Werner Herzog made any impression on the UK box office So, here's a chance to catch up on three documentaries. The oldest is 1997's Little Dieter Needs To Fly (15, 80 mins ***), the remarkable story of Dieter Dengler. Raised in Germany during The Second World War where he ate wallpaper to survive and developed an obsession about being a pilot, he became an American citizen, joined the US Navy and was shot down over North Vietnam in 1966. Captured and imprisoned by the Viet Cong, he was tortured and starved, at one point weighing only 85lbs. He also became one of the few Americans to escape from a prison camp and survive.

Herzog's upcoming Rescue Dawn, starring Christian Bale, is a dramatisation of events, but the documentary is even more incredible with Dengler returning to where it all happened to recount - and at one point re-enact - his harrowing experiences and how they affected his later life.

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Culture Cinema: Documentaries Before Dawn ; Werner Herzog Weekend at Mac

Equally fascinating but hard going is Wheel Of ...

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