Wings of Hope

Wings of Hope (Werner Herzog, 2000) The most extraordinary things happen by accident. I watched this rather amazing documentary due to a Facebook post that was culled from one of those "Weird History" click-bait things that pop up and disappear like mushrooms in our digital forest. The accompanying picture of that article showing a somewhat immaculately dressed young woman wading through what appeared to be a swamp may have come from an exploitive 1974 Italian movie based on the incident (Miracles Still Happen, 1974—I watched it and you can skip it), but other than that, the story is absolutely true.

Absolutely, weirdly, almost unbelievably true.

Skipping details, it is about a 17 year old girl, Juliane Koepcke, who was on a Christmas Eve 1971 flight that was repeatedly struck by lightning over the Andes, the plane broke apart, and she was sent hurtling out of the plane, strapped to her seat, fell 3000 feet into the Amazon rain-forest, survived the impact, and for 10 days made her way to an encampment where she was found the next day by fishermen, who started the process of getting her back to "civilization." She was the only survivor.

Parse out that paragraph and any of those things brings up a myriad of questions that all begin with "How...?" When you delve into the history and the details, you might assume (as I did) that she was the perfect person to be able to survive such an ordeal and her chance survival from the catastrophic plane mishap was simple luck and a fortuitous series of happenstances. 

So, how does director Werner Herzog fit into all this? Why would he make a film about it? The reasons—as usual—are personal. Herzog was supposed to be on that doomed plane. Scouting locations for Aguirre, the Wrath of God, a last-minute change in the plane's itinerary cancelled Herzog's reservation. His narrow escape haunted him for decades, and was understandably fascinated by Koepcke's survival. He sought her out with the idea of going back to the crash-site (not necessarily a cruel thing as she had been back a few times) and telling her story in the areas in which they occurred. Koepcke, who had been avoiding publicity and media contact for years—Herzog doesn't reveal her married name in the film—thought this would be therapeutic and agreed, accompanied by her husband. Koepcke is very transparent about her experiences, expressing jitters to be sitting in the same designated row and seat on the flight out, but once in the jungle, she's in her element—"the casual way she dealt with mosquitoes and other vermin was the first thing that struck us about Juliane" says Herzog in his narration—and her commentary reveals her jungle-upbringing and studious approach to discoveries, calm and curious and sympathetic to make the story as relatable as possible, but with no sense that anything done at the time was remarkable, merely necessary. She is the perfect field-guide. 

In fact, she and Herzog are so matter-of-fact in their approach that one becomes accustomed to the extraordinary. Floating down the Amazon? It's the best approach to civilization and not disturbing wildlife. But the crocodiles and piranhas? Not a danger, especially when floating calmly down the river. And unlike that Italian movie (which Koepcke amusingly mocks in the film) or any other presentation I've seen, it is refreshingly free of histrionics and pumped-up-doco drama (as if it were necessary) for a story that even "Dateline" would reject as being too fantastic. A lot of that is helped by Herzog's customary dead-pan narration which tamps down the drama while still being mordant (a commenter on YouTube opines that "Herzog could make a film about a Swiss chocolate factory...and make it seem macabre").

It's a fascinating story, as studiously told as could be in the documentary, making an unfathomable story seem comprehensible and that, in a chaotic world, miracles still happen (uff, that movie)...but only if one is prepared and capable of taking advantage of it, however it occurs.    

Wings of Hope is available for viewing on YouTube (as is Miracles Still Happen)

...at least for a little while (don't be surprised if the link dies).