“Once more New York. To dub Venom. Arthur Penn wants me for a film, I turn him down. I’ve turned down Fellini and Visconti and Pasolini as well as Ken Russell and Liliana Cavani – usually because of the money. And I’d have turned down Eisenstein and Kurosawa for the same reason. By now I’ve made over 250 movies and turned down over a thousand”.
(Klaus Kinski in Kinski Uncut, Bloomsbury Publishing plc, London, 1997, p307)
According to IMDB Klaus Kinski made 20 more films after Venom so I guess Klaus’s final total would have been over 270 if he was really keeping count; there are only 135 films listed on IMDB so I don’t know what the other 135 films are. I’m looking into it. Well, I will be when I’ve managed to track down the others first (with English subtitles where necessary). My plan is to try and see them all and review them.
Why? Because I realised that Klaus Kinski was in so many films I watch. I love all sorts of films – from art house through to trash. Klaus was in some of the good stuff (mainly the Werner Herzog films, actually…) and in a lot of the bad stuff – but however bad the films have been, Klaus has always been more than a pleasure to watch. Eventually I started seeking out films he appeared in. One day I was talking to my friend about what a great actor Klaus Kinski was and we got onto talking about the bad films. I said: “Sometimes even Klaus can’t save a film.” It became my catchphrase. And when the friend made me a card with this picture on it (see below), he became my boyfriend.
But, anyway, back to Klaus. I’ve been fascinated with him ever since I found Kinski Uncut, which is one of the most enjoyable and highly amusing autobiographies I’ve ever read. If you’ve not yet read it I suggest you get a copy ASAP – mine is well-thumbed, as Klaus said to the actress (sorry, that’s another catchphrase…). It’s a mine of information – how reliable that information is, I do not know, but I’ll be looking into that as well.
During a recent trip to Berlin (which became a bit of a Klaus Kinski pilgrimage, with me traipsing from one Klaus related venue to another) I bought two more books about Klaus: Klaus Kinski by Peter Geyer, Suhrkamp BasisBiographie, 2006 and Kinski Die Biographie by Christian David, Aufbau Taschenbuch, Berlin, 2006. Unfortunately for me they are both in German and my German is a bit rusty to say the least. Nonetheless, I’ll try my best with the information I have available to me and hopefully I’ll see some great and some not so great films along the way and get to write some silliness about them. Klaus wouldn’t mind; he’d probably say the scripts were feebleminded anyway. Or, more likely, something much filthier than that.
Anyway, this blog is expressing my admiration for the wonderful, and some might say, wasted talents of Klaus Kinski – possibly my favourite actor and certainly one of my favourite loveable lunatics. Ich liebe Kinski!
I hope you enjoy the blog but if you have anything to add or any other information about Klaus, his life, his films, &c, please do post comments. Tschüß!
Postscript: January 2013
Sadly what started out as fun has ended very badly. Recently allegations of sexual abuse were made against Klaus Kinski and these must be taken seriously. Despite the fact that Kinski was undoubtedly an incredibly talented actor, it would appear that he was not such a great man. For me this has been utterly disappointing – I invested a lot of time, effort, love and money into working on this blog and writing about someone who was an idol to me. He is now a fallen idol and I feel very, very disappointed, disgusted and upset by this.
Other Kinski websites have suggested that I shouldn’t have been surprised or shocked by the news, but I would say to them that comments like that say more about them than they do about me. Perhaps it is naive to want to see the best in someone and to discount their own claims of wild behaviour as mere exaggeration or just falsehoods, but it is far worse to say that you were not shocked by the news at all – that you always suspected Kinski was capable of this – and to have glorified him anyway. That is a sad thought.
So after two and a half years or so of Du dumme Sau! it all comes to an end. Lesson learnt: don’t have heroes.
Du dumme Sau - a Kinski Blog 
Great blog, great actor! I’m dying to see all of his films, so far I’ve only seen his work with Herzog and boy, did they create some movie magic or what? This blog is an amazing guide to all those films I still haven’t seen. Thank you and keep up the good work!
/Nilla.
Love the photos!
Dx
As a KK fanatic, I must say I have fallen in love with your blog and bookmarked it in my browser. Keep it alive and KKicking!
P.S. my copy of ‘Kinski Uncut’ is pretty well-thumbed too.
This is great news – more KK fanatics out there! Thanks so much for the kind comment (aw!!!) and keep coming back to Du dumme Sau! where Kinskinessabounds – or, even better, subscribe so you don’t miss out on any of the updates
I am consciously not subscribing to the blog just because I’d love to come back here once in a while and get a pleasant surprise from every new entry. 🙂 Hence the bookmark.
Incidentally (seeing that you have a boyfriend), do you by any chance have a twin sister with similar taste in cinema and literature?
Ha ha! No twin sister – and it took me ages to find a boyfriend who has a similar taste in cinema and literature and music but if I can do it, there is hope for everyone!
heyho, nice blog, i really like it!
the unidentified photo on page 2, below that one from winetou II, is from the movie “Das Gold von Sam Cooper”, http://www.imdb.de/title/tt0060777/
it’s a promotional still photo, it’s not in the movie itself!
Thanks so much for your comment – it’s nice to hear from fellow KK fans. I meant to update the page after I found out which film it was from, so thanks for reminding me – I didn’t know it was just a promotional still though and not actually from the movie, so thanks for that! Your website is amazing, by the way. Come back to Du dumme Sau! for more Klaus Kinski-ness from time to time!
well, you may want to check out my kinski-channel on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=DocPhnoeker#grid/uploads
and also a bonanza: the (german) kinski forum:
http://www.carookee.com/forum/KINSKI
even if you don’t understand german you may enjoy the lots of pictures, that have been uploaded in the forum:
http://www.carookee.com/forum/KINSKI/depot
O my god, Konrad! I LOVE your Kinski-Channel on YouTube and already have a link to it on my blog (see right hand side of the blog where I post links to sites I like). And the Kinski Forum, which I only discovered last week, definitely has great resources (the scans of the articles are amazing) – I think I have already included a link to that as well. Thanks for getting in touch – it’s great to connect with some other Kinski fans. Fancy doing any trades?!! If so, email me direct.
Have you seen this youtube clip about the Beat Presser/Kinski exhibit in Bogota?
Hi Leigh Ann! Yes, Beat Presser has been in touch about the exhibition and sent more stuff through for the blog, which I have just uploaded here: https://locotigrero.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/beat-presser-kinski-exhibition-in-bogota-until-30-june-2011/ Thanks for emailing and do keep on sending information through as it’s all helpful and very much appreciated. Have a good weekend, Raechel (Du dumme Sau!)
(at first sorry for my bad english)
Great Blog! “Du dumme Sau!” is such a funny blogname! =)
My favorite KK Movies are (except the Herzog Films)
“Nachtblende” (L’important c’est d’aimer) from the genius Andrzej Żuławski with Klaus and Romy Schneider!
and
“Leichen pflastern seinen Weg” (Il grande silenzio) wich is for me (except the Herzog Films) his best Movie!
It´s a real joy to read your reviews on German Interviews that you don´t even understand but you get the essence of it!
Keep up your great work!
Greetings from Germany
Thanks a lot, Raoule! I too love The Great Silence and the Herzog films. I think I have to see Nachtblende again as I thought it was good but a bit odd. I also really enjoyed Footprints on the Moon (Le Orme), although Klaus had a minimal role in that one, and Fruits of Passion (I thought it was trashy on a first view but it’s actually incredibly stylish). Aside from The Soldier (Ken Wahl!), I can pretty much find something to enjoy in most of Klaus’ films. Even Beauty and the Beast, which is pretty bad really, as Klaus is so good with his little furry face in it. I’ll review Klaus as the Beast when I get back from Muenster – I leave tomorrow to attend the Beat Presser event, exciting! Stay in touch and I’m glad I didn’t make too much of a mess of the reviews of the German interviews!!! Best wishes Raechel (Tinynoggin)
I love this blog. It’s thoughtful, witty, smart, affectionate. And unrivaled. Anyone interested in Klaus Kinski needs to check it out. I think the texts contained in this blog are among the best ones ever written on Kinski, his work and life. Raechel, keep up your wonderful work. Best wishes, CD
My gosh, is that really THE Christian David? If so, I am SO excited – you have written my absolute favourite book about Klaus Kinski (even if my German is not quite good enough to understand everything!), would you consider doing an interview for the blog, please? Thanks so much for the lovely comments. And for the Kinski biography too – it’s the best work out there about him!
Thanks for your kind words, and please get in touch via email! Best, CD
this feature came on german television a few days ago, it’s a birthday-celebration for klaus.
and it has some new, never-seen-before footage in it! enjoy…
lg,
konrad
Thanks so much, Konrad! I’m going to watch it now. Thanks for sharing :0)
Hi Raechel,
I see there’s a part 2 to that b-day tribute:
I have been debating getting that enormous Kinski Vermächtnis book. There’s a Facebook page for the book. I can’t read German, but some of the photos make me think I would enjoy it anyway 😉 Have you gotten it yet? I found a place you can look inside the book a bit:
http://www.book2look.de/vBook.aspx?id=LvDflELdwr&euid=7596149&ruid=0&referURL=http://www.book2look.de/vBook.aspx?id=LvDflELdwr&shoplinkNumbers=all&bibletType=double
I also discovered some great photos I hadn’t seen before (search for Kinski & there are 8 photos):
http://www.foto-friedel.com/www_de/library.lib
Hopefully these links don’t go all wonky after I post this. Your blog is great, as always 🙂
Take care,
Leigh Ann
Hi Leigh Ann! Thanks for the posts. I’ve not got Vermaechtnis yet but I will – it looks absolutely beautiful; not just the photos but also the design and layout. I’ll check out those photos at Foto Friedel and the videos as well. Do carry on sending stuff through when you find it, as I don’t always have time to find everything myself; always watching something or working on something for an absolute age! I’m not sure if the Nikolai project is the one I’ve seen already but I saw a short film he did about working in a cinema, I think. He’s a good actor, a lot like his dad, and also very easy on the eye! I also have a couple of features he was in but haven’t got around to watching them yet as I have a Klaus backlog right now. It’s all good but I must get something new ready to upload soon in case it all goes off the boil. Keep visiting and thanks for the lovely comments. Rx
Also ran across this trailer for a short film that Nikolai did called “Planet”:
Hi! This is Raphael from Bochum/Germany. I think you’re doing a great job. Just read the interviews. Keep going! This is valuable work!!!!
cheers
Thanks a lot, Raphael. I’m really pleased you like it. I hope you’ll keep visiting to see more soon. All the best Raechel
I´d like to send you a beautiful phot I´ve just found. Of course, it´s in the web , so surely you know it… Well, here it is. 😉
Yes, what a lovely photo of KK with the doggie – totally crazy! Thanks for the link.
Hi Diego! I saw Neues vom Hexer (Again the Ringer) a couple of days ago and you can see Klaus with this dog and the gun in it. He looks absolutely fabulous, so I would recommend it. All the best Raechel
Hi! Just wanted to know (as a fellow Kinski fanatic) if you have read this book, and if it is worth buying.
Hi Avicus! No, I’ve not read this book. My guess is it’s full of stuff from the scandal papers and probably inaccuracies too – but I’m only guessing, as I’ve not even seen the book, just books of that type – and I can’t imagine there was any participation or collaboration from the family, but I can imagine it’s a fascinating read nonetheless. I might get it, but if you get it first and read it let me know what you think. Thanks for telling me about it! R
Thank you! 🙂 I’m thinking of buying it, as any book on Klaus/Nastassja is a must-have for me (we hardly get anything on them in India). This one’s available in an Indian online bookstore; will surely let you know once I get and read it.
By the way, here’s a new sketch I did today:
That’s great, Avicus. Can you send me a link to your blog and I will add it to the website? Let me know how you get on with the book!
Sure! Here’s the link for my blog (I created it after starting my MFA programme in Netherlands in 2008, and named it after you-know-who):
http://klaustrophilic.blogspot.com/
This blog is really so well done and so worth to follow ^^ you seem to have a really healthy kind of obsession for Klaus Kinski…
Just saw a movie called “Adios Companeros” with KK BIG on the cover holding a shotgun… actually in the movie he plays such a tiny part, a weird not importend “pope” (i don’t know the german word for it right now, I think it wasn’t a pope) and never even touches a gun… but it was worth watching it because of one scene. He eating an apple and biting a much to big piece, almost laughing about himself while doing this… this made me laugh and watch it again. By the way, the rest of the movie is so extremly bad, that it’s fun to watch it too…
Greetings from Hannover, Germany
Lisa
Thank you so much for your kind comments, Lisa! I’ve not yet watched Adios Companeros (although I have it in my collection) – I’m looking forward to seeing the apple sequence now you’ve said that. Do keep visiting the blog – over the Christmas holidays I need to do another article, so there may be something new soon. Have a great Christmas holiday. Guten Rutsch! Raechel
don’t know the ENGLISH, not the german word of course 😉
Oh, I’m looking forward to your next article! You too have a great christmas time (even if it’s already over) und einen guten Rutsch natürlich auch…
I guess you don’t need it or already have some german people around but in case you do, I would love to help you with any translation problems…
Lisa