God’s Angry Man (W. Germany, 1980) 43 min color DIR-PROD-SCR: Werner Herzog. DOP: Thomas Mauch. CAST: Gene Scott, Werner Herzog (narrator). (5 Minutes To Live)
Werner Herzog has made a career out of portrayals (fictional or otherwise) of societal outcasts who live out their mad obsessions, much to the derision of others. Even this low-key short documentary fits into the oeuvre. While cinematically it is not on the level of, say, Aguirre, the Wrath of God or Fitzcarraldo, in its own way, this film too leaves a haunting impression. God’s Angry Man is a funny, shocking and strangely moving portrait of hotheaded evangelist Gene Scott who runs his own network which televises the good word.
Right off the bat, Herzog lets you know how much of a madman he is, as we see him hollering off camera about some asinine little thing. But as the film progresses, he lets you see not only the appeal of his show (which after all must have some revenue to keep going), but also Scott lets the filmmakers in to see his very sad, lonely personal world.
Slowly, we begin to understand that Scott is actually a prisoner in his own work, as he has no privacy or identity outside of his own show. The church owns all of his possessions, opens all his mail, and even has an insurance policy worth more to the congregation if he is dead than alive! These revealing segments are often shot inside the dark cocoon of his limousine. However, we also see Scott in front of more familiar cameras, as he rants and raves on the airwaves.
In one jaw-dropping scene, shot in extreme close-up, during yet another “Festival of Faith” pledge drive, he starts yelling at his viewers for only sending in money when he is screaming at them to do so, not of their own free will (that is, pledging money because they believe in the Lord, instead of when someone tells them to). But also, it appears that his series would be a lot of fun to watch, as there are some unknown gospel music acts that are quite good, and you get to see glimpses of how much of a ham Scott is when he isn’t screaming at someone. Near the end of the film, he is banging on the head of a toy monkey, muttering “That’s the only way to treat a bureaucrat.”
Someone on eBay sold a copy of this film, and the buyer actually gave the seller negative feedback, stating that it was a bootleg of horrible quality, and added: “I’m sending this to Werner Herzog!” I surely hope they did, because this haunting documentary deserves a proper release. As of this writing, I’ve seen the film three times, and each time it becomes as mesmerizing as his large-scale adventure films.
Originally published in Vol. #1, Issue #16. This viewing was made possible from the grey market operation 5 Minutes To Live. Since then, the film has been made available to purchase from Werner Herzog’s website.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.