Klaus Kinski was an extraordinary method actor. More than that, the camera loved his face. Unfortunately, he was also quite mad, given to manic outbursts, to fits of rage, to outrageous behavior, both on and off the set. This documentary by Werner Herzog, who directed Kinski five times, is, I believe, neither exaggerated nor ironic, as has been suggested elsewhere. It is dead-on honest in its depiction of Kinski's willfulness, like a character conceived by Dostoyevski. But it is too much. Herzog and the wonderful Eva Mattes do recall sometimes sensitive and playful sides to Kinski, and footage from "Aguirre" and "Woyzeck" demonstrate Kinski's ability to fully inhabit his more than edgy characters, but otherwise what we see for 1:39 is the acting out of one unmitigated monster. There are at least two reels too much here. I loved "Fitzcarraldo" and "The Making of Fitzcarraldo," but I found this documentary -- Fitzcarraldo twice removed -- a bit tiresome and repetitive.

I walked into this one completely cold: I'd never heard of Kinski or Herzog before. I was completely blown away and the artist-on-artist format was as appropriate as it was effective: only a talented director could hope to communicate a little bit about someone as unique as Kinski. Many amazing scenes and lines are highlighted in this compilation and Herzog generously lets several film production secrets slip, some on purpose and some indirectly. It's my very limited assessment that Kinski only "acted" while off-camera, and what he did while it was rolling was not "acting" at all: he may have simply been one of the most intense and honest people ever to have lived.

It's not a long time since I watched for the very first a Werner Herzog film. Actually that happened during this same month (when I watched Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht). Right now I have seen four of the five films that Herzog and Klaus Kinski made as together as director and actor (Cobra Verde is the only one still to watch but I have it already on DVD) so it was time to finally watch My Best Fiend. Is obvious that now I'm totally into the work of Herzog, this documentary is a must see for any fan of the work of Herzog and of the acting of Kinski. It is not a masterwork however the subject is more than interesting. I remember that the first time I watched a performance of Kinski was in the film Les Fruits de la Passion. By then I didn't know who was Kinski and I haven't watched that film again (I have it on VHS and right now I don't have a video tape recorder available) but I do remember it a little. I have it as part of a box of erotic classics and it does have many sex scenes, quite explicit. Later I saw Kinski in For A Few Dollars More, a film that I loved and Kinski is great in it however it was until this month when, as I said, finally I watched a Herzog film and with that I quickly remember Les Fruits de la Passion. Basically I never forgot that Sergio Leone film but with Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht and Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes I began my true admiration for Kinski.The films of the team Herzog/Kinski are more than great, extremely interesting and all of the ones I have seen with a magnificent Kinski. My Best Fiend is a documentary indicated just for persons who loved those films for obvious reasons. And it doesn't shows who was Kinski apart of what Herzog lived with him but he lived a lot of things, interesting things. We watch Herzog visiting those places where Kinski made that another grey hair appeared in Herzog's head. And Herzog begins in Munich where he shared house with Kinski (I didn't know that Kinski was 16 years older than Herzog), where he knew Kinski, his temperament. The footage of the making of the films is really interesting. Kinski was crazy, simply. I remember that recently when I talked with my cousin about the Herzog/Kinski films I said "I read that Kinski was crazy" and he said "but why?" I said something like "well he shot someone of the crew" "well for sure that's a type of madness" said my cousin. I'm mentioning this because I read many stuff of Kinski mainly in the Internet before watching this film and most of the quotes of Herzog come from this film. Of course Herzog not only visited the places but also meet with some of the cast and crew who worked with him and Kinski. Is unique because we watch Herzog speaking Spanish, of course German and narrating in English. We also see two actresses, the one of Woyzeck (they visited the place where they filmed Woyzeck) and the one of Fitzcarraldo. Eva Mattes won in Cannes but Kinski doesn't and is very funny to hear Herzog saying that Kinski said something like "I don't need awards, I know I'm a genius", it is true. It is interesting enough to easily say that it was absolutely worth watching. Of course Herzog was the sane and Kinski the madman when they were together but Herzog was also crazy, he has other type of craziness. Many unforgettable images but one of my favourites is when they meet again after some years I think in Colorado. Is all happiness and with that I guess many of the ones who knew both could think something like "who can understand these two? " There's also footage of a fight between Kinski and a producer, I think, and is a fight apparently for food. Watch how Kinski respected Herzog. I respect both for those four films that I loved and I hope soon I can say I love the five films of the Herzog/Kinski team. This was just the second documentary of Herzog that I watched, the other was Grizzly Man and for me that film is a masterwork. This one should be watched once you have watched some of those mentioned five films.

Don't know if Werner intended to produce a masterpiece when he assembled this collage of experience around his exposure to Klaus. The result exceeds, at times, a lot of his intentional writing and directing efforts. One can only imagine the frightening experiences of Klaus' roommates in later years. The amazing accomplishment of Werner's career is that he was able to capture some of Klaus' time on earth actually harnessed to script and direction. Who knows if Klaus took life seriously (seriously) or was merely preparing for future roles of greatness, only playing with the present for his own delight. This 'Best Friend' could have been typecast forever, accidentally exceeded his own self-imposed limitations in only a few films, surely in this film, and we are eternally grateful to Werner for providing this insight into their entwined lives. Herzog should earn highest awards for patience and perseverance shown for his best friend.