The film opens on Werner talking about how destructive television is; talk shows, commercials, Bonanza, Rawhide.
Werner didn’t think Errol Morris would finish his film, Gates of Heaven, so Werner said he would eat his shoe if he did.
Errol didn’t think he could even make a film because he didn’t have any money, but Werner encouraged him:
Money doesn’t make films. You just do it and take the initiative.
This film is strangely frozen in time; linear television, free regin in airports, cash over the counter, and news from over the Atlantic.
Making a film in this time was a much larger risk than it is today. More people make films and videos today, yet storytelling is the same as it always has been.
Storytelling is a skill as old as time; video is just a consequence.
In line with storytelling is cooking.
Werner is bothered by the fact that he has not cooked a meal for almost an entire year:
A grown up man like me should not spend a week without having cooked a big meal.
Be sure to tell stories, and cook meals.
January 2024