Werner Herzog is an acclaimed German director who is thought to be one of the best in his generation, in part due to his breathtaking filmmaking ability, but also because of what many consider his masterly visionary qualities. Tokyo readers will have a chance to see for themselves during a two-week retrospective, "Herzog Masterpieces," which opens June 11 at Shibuya's Theater Image Forum and includes films that will screen in Japan for the first time.

While Herzog is loved by fans the world over, who find his storytelling mysterious and sometimes haunting, there are others who loathe him, claiming him to be overly eccentric and self-indulgent. Nonetheless, he remains highly successful, having won awards at countless international film gatherings, including no less than the Cannes Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival.

Born in Munich, Germany, in 1942, Herzog became engrossed in filmmaking at an early age after stealing a 35 mm camera from a local film school. He had already written scripts by the age of 15 and by 17 had made his first film. After finishing school, he went to the United States to study, before getting his first film award from his home country in 1968 — a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, for his feature debut, "Lebenszeichen (Signs of Life)."