As a title, Little Dieter Needs to Fly only makes sense if in this context, "fly" means "to flee" instead of "to operate an aircraft." Although its protagonist is certainly interested in the latter, most of Werner Herzog's documentary focuses on Dieter Dengler, who was the only US soldier to escape a Vietnamese P.O.W. camp. Dengler is another classic Herzog subject- obsessed, eccentric but loving attention. Unlike some other Herzog characters, his goal is more reasonable than dragging a boat over a mountain or becoming a bear- he just wants to survive the prison camp and fly more airplanes.
The story of Dengler, like all Herzog stories is devastatingly simple. Growing up in Germany during WWII, Dengler became fascinated with aviation and dreamed of becoming a pilot. Unfortunately, Germany had no air force or even commercial airlines for some time following the war, so Dengler emigrated to America and joined the Air Force- where he spent two years on K.P. detail. Refusing to give up on his dream, Dengler quit the Air Force, went to college, got a degree, and then joined the Navy- so he could serve on an aircraft carrier in Vietnam. While flying his first mission in 1965, he was shot down and taken prisoner, and kept in conditions so appalling that words cannot describe them.
This story is fascinating, but because this is Herzog, there is an interesting twist- instead of using just found footage with new interviews and perhaps some limited b-roll, as 99% of other filmmakers would have done, Herzog takes Dengler back to Vietnam and has him reenact his captivity. Much of this footage, featuring emotionless Vietnamese natives who may or may not be aware of what they are actually doing, is very weird. Deiter finds the re-creation stressful (duh), and we wonder why he agreed to it. Perhaps its just because he likes telling his story so much. I think the reason why the soldier is so open with his story is because he probably had to replay it thousands of times in his mind, and would prefer to share it, with all its tragic and gory details, then have it be a private war story lost to history. Herzog unfortunately does not delver very much into Deiter's personal life. I wish we would have known more about his re-integration into society as well as his wife and children.
This is not the great movie it could be because somehow it's more of an intellectual experience as opposed to an emotional one. Instead of a visceral account of survival, it's more about the oddness of Dieter Dengler himself. I wish I knew why Dengler was the he way he was. Perhaps Herzog did too, but he didn't find from this movie. Nevertheless, the details of the escape or so inherently interesting that this film surely merits a recommendation.
Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997)