''My Best Fiend'' (german: Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski, literally ''My Dearest Foe - Klaus Kinski'') is a 1999

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

written and directed by

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with un ...

, about his tumultuous yet productive relationship with German actor

Klaus Kinski Klaus Kinski (, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor, equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality. He appeared in over 130 film roles in a c ...

. It was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in 2000 by Anchor Bay.

Synopsis

The film opens with shots of

performing, after his own interpretation, the role of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. Kinski harangues the audience for not paying attention to him, curses wildly, has the microphone taken away from him, and, screaming, steals it back. This is the tour Kinski left to star in Herzog's film ''

Aguirre, the Wrath of God ''Aguirre, the Wrath of God'' (; german: Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes; ) is a 1972 West German epic historical drama film produced, written and directed by Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski stars in the title role of Spanish soldier Lope de Aguirre, w ...

'' (1972). This was the first of five films that the two would make together, the others being ''

Nosferatu the Vampyre ''Nosferatu the Vampyre'' (german: Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht, lit=Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night) is a 1979 horror film written and directed by Werner Herzog. It is set primarily in 19th-century Wismar, Germany and Transylvania, and was conce ...

'' (1978); ''

Woyzeck ''Woyzeck'' () is a stage play written by Georg Büchner. Büchner wrote the play between July and October 1836, yet left it incomplete at his death in February 1837. The play first appeared in 1877 in a heavily edited version by Karl Emil Fr ...

'' (1978); ''

Fitzcarraldo ''Fitzcarraldo'' () is a 1982 West German epic adventure-drama film written, produced and directed by Werner Herzog, and starring Klaus Kinski as would-be rubber baron, Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an Irishman known in Peru as Fitzcarraldo, who is ...

'' (1982); and ''

Cobra Verde ''Cobra Verde'' (also known as ''Slave Coast'') is a 1987 German drama film directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski, in their fifth and final collaboration. Based upon Bruce Chatwin's 1980 novel '' The Viceroy of Ouidah'', the film d ...

'' (1987). After this opening, Herzog tours a substantially renovated apartment that he and his family shared with Kinski and other boarders. Herzog then tours some of the countries he and Kinski filmed at. He looks at the first film clip he ever saw of Kinski and presents footage from the sets of their various movies. He recounts the heated and sometimes violent altercations between them, including the oft-repeated story of how he threatened to shoot Kinski should he leave the production of ''Aguirre''. He also draws on footage from ''

Burden of Dreams ''Burden of Dreams'' is a 1982 " making-of" documentary film directed by Les Blank, shot during and about the chaotic production of Werner Herzog's 1982 film ''Fitzcarraldo'', and filmed on location in the jungles of Peru. Plot summary Cast * ...

'' (1982), a documentary about the making of ''Fitzcarraldo'', which was a particularly difficult film for their relationship. At the same time, Herzog expresses deep respect for Kinski's acting talent. Interviews with two of the women who starred opposite him,

Eva Mattes __notoc__ Eva Mattes (; born 14 December 1954) is an Austrian-German actress. She has appeared in four films directed by director Rainer Werner Fassbinder (''The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant'', ', ''Effi Briest'' and ''In a Year of 13 Moons' ...

(from ''

'') and

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English. Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...

(from ''

''), suggest that the actor had a calmer side. Herzog also meets with Beat Presser, a photographer who has displayed many photos of Herzog and Kinski. One of these photos is used as the film's poster. The final sequence in the film shows Kinski playing with a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

in the

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

vian jungle. Herzog describes Kinski's death as the result of having lived so strenuously and fully, describing him as "like a comet". His voice is heard over the final scene of ''Cobra Verde,'' in which Kinski collapses in the surf as he tries to pull a large boat out to sea.

Critical reception

The documentary was screened out of competition at the

1999 Cannes Film Festival The 52nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 12 to 23 May 1999. Canadian filmmaker, actor and author David Cronenberg was the Jury President. The Palme d'Or went to the French–Belgian film ''Rosetta'' by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The festiv ...

. It has an 80% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

with an average rating of 7.00/10.

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called the film " captivating documentary, a film that serves as an eloquent coda to their unforgettable creative partnership.".

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film three stars out of a possible four, saying:

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...

, writing for the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'', was less enthusiastic, calling the film, "The art-movie equivalent to writer-director

Blake Edwards Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio s ...

's ''

Trail of the Pink Panther A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. T ...

'':

In popular culture

Independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

director Maverick Moore parodied both

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both Cinema of France, French cinema and Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a fi ...

's film '' My Dinner with Andre'' and, "the totally bonkers friendship between legendary filmmaker

and controversial actor

" as chronicled in ''My Best Fiend'', in the awarding -winning short comedy film '' My Dinner with Werner''.Watch: Blind Date Dinner: Comedy Short Film; 'My Dinner with Werner'
by Alex Billington, February 3, 2022. * "My Friend Falcon", a fake "behind the scenes" episode of American TV show ''

Childrens Hospital ''Childrens Hospital'' (originally titled ''Children's Hospital'' as webisodes) is an American black comedy television show, television series and web series that parodies the medical drama genre, created by and starring actor/comedian Rob Cord ...

'' depicts director David Wain's (as himself) contentious relationship with fictional cast member Justin Falcon (played by

Ken Marino Kenneth Joseph Marino (born December 19, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He was a cast member on MTV's ''The State'' and has starred in shows such as ''Party Down'', '' Marry Me'', ''Burning Love'', and ''Childre ...

), parodying several scenes of ''My Best Fiend''. Over the course of the episode, it gets more and more obvious that Wain is responsible for many negative events in Falcon's life, is obsessed with him and is insane.

References

External links

* * *
A short transcript from the film
explaining both Kinski and Herzog's attitude to the jungle, from Herzog's point of view. {{Werner Herzog 1999 films German documentary films Documentary films about actors 1999 documentary films Films directed by Werner Herzog Films scored by Popol Vuh (band) 1990s German films