2024 International Documentary Festival Amsterdam: About a Hero Review

“A computer will not make a film as good as mine in 4,500 years.” This provocative claim from Werner Herzog, delivered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, became the spark for Piotr Winiewicz’s latest project. The filmmaker set out to test Herzog’s assertion, using AI tools not only to engage with the boundaries of Herzog’s remarkable and unprecedented documentary legacy, but also to probe the creative limits of artificial intelligence itself.

However, along the way, Winiewicz‘s project veered off course. Instead of rigorously examining Herzog’s cinematic ethos or co-creating a film that could rival it in complexity, he leaned into parody. The result, About a Hero, uses a custom-trained AI system, Kaspar, primarily to mimic Herzog’s voice and investigative style and assemble a patchwork storyline from existing audiovisual materials. The film, fragmented and absurdly chaptered, unfolds in the fictional German town of Getunkirchenberg. The plot centres on the death of Dorem Clery, an employee at a kitchen appliance factory, whose widow navigates her grief in the company of a “smart” toaster. The toaster’s ominous red light functions as an enigmatic, if ultimately hollow, presence—a visual nod to the thriller genre’s iconic MacGuffins.

While this conceit flirts with technophobic themes, it never fully commits to exploring them. The film skims over the deeper questions about AI and its creative potential, opting instead for nostalgic aesthetics reminiscent of Aki Kaurismäki’s cinema, with their nostalgic reds and blues. These visuals, paired with a dry humour and self-referential dialogue employed when the story reaches certain predicaments, are undeniably alluring and entertaining. But they prompt the question: Is visual flair and surface-level satire enough to carry the weight of such a concept?

Herzog himself gave his permission (and blessing) for the use of his material and likeness, and About a Hero does riff on his signature preoccupations: existential musings, the absurdity of human endeavour, and our uneasy relationship with technology. Yet Winiewicz’s AI-generated Herzog is a hollow mimic, lacking the depth and spontaneity that define the real filmmaker’s work. The satire extends beyond Herzog to Kaspar AI, whose interactions with the director highlight the system’s limitations, but without offering fresh insights into AI’s creative role.

As the opening film at IDFA 2024, About a Hero seems less interested in challenging contemporary debates around AI or paying genuine homage to Herzog’s legacy. Instead, it positions itself as an experiment, a playful foray into the uncharted territory of AI-assisted filmmaking. While it may not fully realize its ambitious premise, the film hints at possibilities for future exploration, leaving the door ajar for more substantive endeavours in this evolving landscape. That said, well done (both to the producers and to the festival for picking up the title and giving it importance).

Director: Piotr Winiewicz / Production: Rikke Tambo Andersen for Tambo Film ApS, Mads Damsbo for Kaspar ApS, Sam Pressman for Pressman Film / Cinematography: Emil Aagaard / Editing: Julius Krebs Damsbo, Michael Aagelund / Music: Lasse Aagaard / Screenplay: Kaspar, Anna Juul