Wings of Hope

The story of Juliane Koepcke is one of those amazing tales of survival: a 17 year old girl -- the lone survivor of a plane crash in the middle of the Peruvian jungle -- manages to walk her way back to civilization, against all the odds. One can hardly go through something like what Juliane experienced without being deeply marked by it, and she clearly is, but at the same time she seems to accept the hand she was dealt with a matter-of-factly, almost stereotypical German stoicism.

Werner Herzog could make a movie about a woman speculating to the audience about what certain pieces of jungle-claimed rubble could be, and it would still be awesome. Oh wait...

Great photography, interesting subject matter on and off topic, some unforgettable shots and fascinating information. All done in typical Herzog style. Terrific!

Herzog makes a documentary on the human spirit trapped in a jungle. He's done it before. He'll do it again. He'll continue to be good at it.

An interesting subject, and a great film. That Juliane survived the plane crash was a miracle enough. That she survived 10 days of travel in a Peruvian jungle with a broken collar bone, swollen eyes, and a single shoe having essentially nothing to eat is amazing. Even more so that having done this she later had the strength to go on to a PhD in biology, and to survive going back to the crash site and digging around. It's also fascinating that Werner Herzog himself nearly boarded the same plane.

Know that if you ever crash a plane in the jungle, Herzog will make you walk your ass back to it. Like with Dieter Dengler, the subject here is impenetrably cool-headed and detached from the incident, narrating more like a tour guide than a traumatized survivor. Some people are just tough to rattle.

Perhaps there is nothing more Herzogian than asking a survivor of a place crash about the crash while travelling in a plane (retracing the flight). But, again, as this is Herzog, this is done with the utmost compassion and a genuine desire to re-enact tragedy for the purposes of therapy (in this case for Juliane Koepcke). Herzog's personal link to the disaster - he was almost on the flight - adds to the sincerity of the film. It really is a remarkable story.

Herzog's emotional narrative feels a little intrusive considering his seemingly level-headed, rational subject, but it's doesn't detract much from the quality of the film.

'Zogtastic! Juliane Koepcke is one bad B.

Another remarkable Herzog doc, about Juliane Koepcke, the 17 year-old sole survivor of a 1971 plane crash in the Peruvian jungle. The tale has many fascinating elements, not the least of which is the fact that Herzog himself was almost on that flight. The film contains the usual enigmatic Herzogian touches like his poetic narration and strange detours. One of my favorite moments was actually one of the least relevant: a minute is taken to film a young girl delighted with the camera.