A rather dire attempt at making a grand movie of what is essentially is just a test flight. The filming itself is beautiful. But I think the problem with the film really stems from a poorly drafted mission plan, in the end it is only Herzogs skill which pulls the thing together at all. The airship designer Dorringer is rather shallow his dialogue feels fake layered with intentional pauses to elicit some form of emotional response, this is not aided by Herzogs constant focus on the failing of his last air trip. Out of the few other characters in the film only local Rastafarian Mark Anthony stands out but he too feels slightly token-like, during particularly slow points in the documentary the focus is brought back to him in various roles, the native plants expert, the easy go lucky local, the hear-string plucker with his lament for his family in Spain and finally the rather odd rooster fanatic, each feels as manipulated as the last. Perhaps the worst part is that despite the documentary supposedly setting out to do this, no "canopy exploration" actually takes place. In the end what you are watching is a drawn out feature length doco about a test flight. This begs the question, why go to all the lengths transporting the whole affair to distant Guayana? In Herzogs closing scene Dorringers truly outdoes himself. When the local children do not appear awed by his landing in their little village this leads him to postulate that the aircraft must have been invisible to them due to its alien-ness. In an insensitive comparison, which smacks of white prejudice he tells Mark Anthony about the colonist fable wherein the New Zealand Maori are not able to see James Cooks ship because they had apparently never seen one before, a tall tale to tell about a peoples descendant form a long line of seafarers.

Werner Herzog's The White Diamond is further evidence the German director possesses a one-of-a-kind wonderment and curiosity with the world around him. No other filmmaker possesses Herzog's child-like innocence and this is precisely why no other filmmaker can capture the bizarre and touching, magic-realism common in many Herzog films.WD is familiar Herzog ground, this time his fixation with obsessed eccentrics leads his lens to Dr. Graham Dorrington, a man determined to build a zeppelin-like flying machine to explore the seldom seen canopy of the South American rain forest. Complicating matters, Dorrington's impossible dream is haunted by a tragic accident that cost his colleague (biologist) Dieter Plage his life. There's no question Herzog himself is an obsessed eccentric and we're witness to this when he shares screen time with Dorrington, each of them battling to make their vision a reality. In one telling scene we watch as Herzog's undaunted will and laughably adolescent logic trumps Dorrington's overwhelming sense of guilt and responsibility. As this scene plays out and things do go wrong, you realize Herzog has no problem sacrificing everything - including his life- to make his film. You can't help but think of Fitzcarraldo and how powerful (and possibly insane) the will of this man truly is. As he's strapped into the zeppelin before its maiden flight, Herzog grips his camera and defines his unwavering faith by declaring: "In cinema we trust."WD isn't without its flaws, one of which is Herzog's overzealous lust to portray the Guyanese guide Marc Anthony as a mythical sage. Marc is a peaceful and serene man, but Herzog's camera lingers on him to a point where an act is coaxed out of Marc, one not nearly as profound as Herzog wishes it to be. But there are so many other moments of sheer magic that you can't help but excuse Herzog for the same naïveté that more often than not, elevates his films to a special place. Perhaps the most poetic moment in the film is when another of the local guides dances atop a rock formation adjacent to the mystical and daunting Kaieteur Falls in the heart of Guyana. These same falls boast a legend that no man has ever explored behind the falls and when Herzog manages to film images of this no- man's land, he opts to not show the images out of respect for the local mythology. Few filmmakers would ever show such reverence for preserving myth than someone so deft at creating them himself.http://eattheblinds.blogspot.com/

Herzog loves to explore the nature within. He has been doing this ever since he started out as a filmmaker. Aguirre, Wrath of God is a good example. There nature mirrors what is happening with in the persons. He does that same thing here.A lesser filmmaker would only have concentrated on the technical marvel and the landscape. He/she would have overlooked the dreams and life of Marc Anthony Yhap (a hired hand) and Graham Dorrington's bleeding heart because of mistakes in the past. Inner landscape which are just as fascinating as the thousands of birds diving under the waterfall or the reflection in the raindrop.I thought this film was like a meditation on life, past, present, dreams, failures, cultures and harmony with nature. I loved how Herzog would keep the shots longer than most directors would have, like when Graham Dorrington puts on his jet suit and pretend to fly like superman. And the landscape pictures where just breathtaking.This is one of Herzog's best film, and that's saying a lot.

With some proper editing Herzog would have been left with about 27 minutes of film. However, that 27 minutes is breathtakingly beautiful and you aren't likely to see it otherwise. As such- check this out, be prepared to be bored. My tip- as soon as you hear our protagonist's spiel about the air balloon and you understand what he is trying to achieve and why- simply fast forward through his boring butt every time you see him, unless he has balloons in his hand- and get on to the good stuff- the rainforest. He has very little to say that is interesting- his subject is the interesting part of this film- the rainforest jungle.Watching the rainforest scenes is a reminder to me as how instrinisically incorrect our current society is and how much better off we would be if the jungle could simply engulf us all once again and wipe out what we have "built". Once upon a time we worried about being eaten by a tiger, now we worry about getting shot by a crackhead- the same chances of death, the only difference is that now the water is bad and the air is foul and there are no more fish in the rivers, so we can't go back to the old ways since they only work when you Don't destroy your surroundings. Herzog found a place where all that has not happened as badly as it has here and there are still some beautiful things left to behold.So check it out on film while you still can because we are a culture that is hell bent on destroying all of this beauty with no regard to the inevitable cost of our own lives and grandchildren's lives which is very obviously the ultimate cost of destroying this once beautiful ghost of a planet. In a world where we think wiping out natural beauty is an acceptable part of progress this is a diamond in the rough. Could have used some better editing though and a bit more footage of some jungle stuff.