"For the filmmaker Werner Herzog, 83, the truth that matters transcends mere fact. Starting in the 1990s, he began using a term he coined himself: ecstatic truth, which refers to poetic truth, emotional truth, a stylized truth that illuminates and moves. It's not about delivering fake news, but about delivering beautiful news, he vigorously clarified before the packed auditorium of New York's 92NY cultural center, where he was presenting his seventh book, The Future of Truth."
"He gave as an example the quote at the beginning of his documentary Lessons of Darkness (1992): The collapse of the stellar universe will occur like creation in grandiose splendor, which he attributed to the philosopher Blaise Pascal. The quote was entirely my own invention. Honestly, I don't think Pascal could have said it better, but it allowed me to take the viewers from a heightened state and keep them there throughout the documentary."
"Herzog has had a prolific career, covering subjects as disparate as they are intriguing. He has devoted films to portraying figures as mysterious as Nosferatu or Kaspar Hauser. He has shot documentaries about volcanoes, a man's obsession with the brown bears of Alaska, the devastation of Kuwait after the First Gulf War, death-row killers, Gorbachev, cave paintings, Antarctica, and the impact of meteorites, among others."
Werner Herzog coined 'ecstatic truth' in the 1990s, defining it as poetic, emotional, stylized truth that illuminates and moves. He differentiates ecstatic truth from deliberate falsehood, framing it as 'beautiful news' rather than fake news. Herzog fabricated a Pascal quote for Lessons of Darkness to elevate viewers into a sustained heightened state. Herzog views truth as a construct for coping with daily life and urges transformation of truth into a glorious, beautiful experience. Herzog's prolific career spans more than 70 films, operas, and documentaries on volcanoes, bears, war devastation, cave paintings, Antarctica, and meteorite impacts. Ghost Elephants (2026) follows explorer Steve Boyes in Angola searching for unknown giant elephants.
Read at english.elpais.com
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