Every Night the Trees Disappear

Alan Greenberg’s new book, about the making of German director Werner Herzog’s Heart of Glass, was adapted from the film’s 1976 publicity materials. It’s bookended by Herzog’s foreword from the original publicity pamphlet and a 2012 afterword by him as well. This captivating work dares to be almost as mysterious and alluring as the film itself, which featured actors who were hypnotized during shooting. The bulk of the book consists of sections of Herzog’s original Heart of Glass screenplay woven in between chapters in which Greenberg, who accompanied Herzog during the making of the film, reflects upon the quirkiness, madness and genius that is Herzog. The chapter called “Sachrang” has Herzog speaking with Greenberg about Herzog’s young son, Burro. After picking up Burro’s small jacket, Herzog shakes his head and says, “For a long while after Burro was born, it was difficult for me—I had no idea who or what he was. And now look at this. What fits into such a thing? What is it? I just can’t understand.” In his afterward, Herzog speaks to the book’s title: “At night the trees disappear. I hear them speak in the book. I see them all, alive and full of enthusiasm, following me on a wild project which stands alone among so many other wild enterprises in my life.”