Little Dieter Needs to Fly

Werner Herzog’s documentary about Dieter Dengler’s life past and present and inspiration for Herzog’s Rescue Dawn. The documentary exhibits Dengler’s present day life in California as an ongoing recollection of the six months he spent in a Laotian prisoner camp. Although his days as a prisoner of the Viet Cong are a predominant topic (as well as the sole focus of Rescue Dawn), Herzog illustrates Dengler’s account of the need to live not as the documentary’s primary focus, but to further emphasize Dengler’s greater passion – to fly. Like many of Herzog’s documentaries (and his other films for that matter), Little Dieter Needs to Fly preserves a sense of his subject’s surreal reality. Definitely a companion piece to Rescue Dawn, if you watch both films you might find it satisfying not only to learn more about Dengler himself, but to realize that Rescue Dawn’s portrayal of Dengler’s recollections is reasonably accurate. If you’re expecting more about Dengler’s time in Laos, however, you will probably be disappointed that nothing is covered in Little Dieter Needs To Fly that isn’t portrayed in Rescue Dawn. If you loved Rescue Dawn and want to learn more about Dieter Dengler, then I’d recommend this film. If you loved Rescue Dawn and want to learn more about his time in Laos, you won’t find much here.