Fata Morgana

A fantastical-poetical film essay by Werner Herzog, who concentrates visual material shot mainly in North Africa into disturbing visions of a world devoid of meaning. A history of humanity unfolds in three chapters – “Creation,” “Paradise,” and “Golden Age” – a history defined by decay, destruction, and failure; wrecked planes in the desert, abandoned villages, and animal carcasses seem like relics of an already lost civilization. The accompanying texts (spoken by film historian Lotte Eisner) serve as a commentary on the pictorial metaphors, but do not pin down their meanings – instead, expanding them to incorporate another, sometimes skeptical-ironic dimension.