德国电影大师沃纳・赫尔佐格於70年代在欧洲掀起了一股探索新电影概念的浪潮。赫尔佐格凭藉着《生命的讯息》（Signs of Life，1968年）丶《阿基尔，上帝的愤怒》（Aguirre, Wrath of God，1972年）、《贾斯伯荷西之谜》（The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser，1974年）和《陆上行舟》（Fitzcarraldo，1982年）等等深受注目的剧情片，让自己成为了大众讨论的话题，尤其是那些由克劳斯·金斯基（Klaus Kinski）所扮演的超越生命的角色。在赫尔佐格拍摄的纪录片《灰熊人》（Grizzly Man，2005年）取得成功後，也开始拍摄一种新的混合纪录片形式，他对生活和电影的强硬态度也使他成为了新一代导演。
 
本书是基於作者对於沃纳・赫尔佐格的专访所诞生的一本书。本书并非是一本对电影的纪实考察，而是一趟进入天才电影人创意世界的哲学式旅程。作者透过班雅明丶阿多诺丶尼采和德勒兹等等哲学式对话，来思考厘清诸如「什麽是电影？」、「意象与真理之间有什麽关系？」等等问题，还讨论身为哲学家丶民族学家丶探险家和科学家等等的电影导演的不同创作概念。这本书想探讨的是关於世界，关於生活，以及关於如何追求好奇心的极限。
 

关於作者
Kristoffer Hegnsvad 是作家丶纪录片导演丶影视编辑和丹麦最大日报《 Dagbladet Politiken》的评论家。他执导过《Looking for Exits: Conversations with a Wingsuit Artist and Laamb》(2015) 和 《Laamb》(2013).。

书评
“Hegnsvad has written an insightful and well-communicated book, which provides independent and new insights into Werner Herzog’s films.”
― Danish Arts Foundation, "Ten Best Books of 2018," on the Danish edition
 
"Solitary searcher and skillful self-promoter Werner Herzog is an artist whose cinematic visions, fictional or not, are invariably documentaries about himself. Curious and awed, his erudite sometime student Hegnsvad reveals a recondite Herzog personality no less fascinating than his films."
-- J. Hoberman, author of "Film After Film"
 
"Hegnsvad’s book is a breathtaking and beautifully illustrated journey through Herzog’s many conquests. It is meant for anyone who wants to know what goes on at the Rogue Film School or acquire insight into the director’s exploits without having to drag a ship over a mountain, walk from Vienna to Munich, or eat their own shoes. If you've ever found yourself longing to become a member of Herzog’s guerrilla band of gangster priests, you will probably enjoy this book."
-- Brad Prager, professor of German and film studies, University of Missouri
 
"In this lively and perceptive book, Hegnsvad stages a wonderful encounter between the work of cinema's most peripatetic master, and the nomadic thinking that can deepen our appreciation and solicit our participation in Werner Herzog's marvelous life journey."
-- James Schamus

“Hegnsvad’s book about the German filmmaker Werner Herzog is not a journalistic examination of cinema, but a philosophical journey into the creative workshop of a remarkable artist. Through conversational partners like Benjamin, Adorno, Nietzsche, and Deleuze, the book deals with questions like: What is cinema? What is the relationship between imagery and truth? Different concepts of the movie director—as philosopher, ethnologist, explorer, and scientist—are also discussed. It’s a study about what it requires to be curious about the world, about life, and about pushing the limits when it comes to how this curiosity is pursued.”
― Modern Times Review