Little Dieter Needs to Fly
In 1966, Dieter Dengler was shot down over Laos, captured, and, down to 85 pounds, escaped.
Three decades after German-American pilot Dieter Dengler was shot down over Laos, he returns to the places where he was held prisoner during the early years of the Vietnam War. Accompanied by director Werner Herzog, Dengler describes in unusually candid detail his captivity, the friendships he made, and his daring escape. Not willing to stop there, Herzog even persuades his subject to re-enact certain tortures, with the help of some willing local villagers.
- Year: 1997
- Country: France, Germany, United Kingdom
- Genre: Documentary
- Studio: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, ZDF
- Keyword: vietnam war, vietnam, vietcong, prisoner of war, u.s. navy, post war germany, struggle for survival, pow escape, life story, torture victim, plane crash, pow, air crash, aircraft crash, survivor memories, navy pilot, german immigrant, jungle survival, pow survivor, downed aircraft
- Director: Werner Herzog
- Cast: Werner Herzog, Dieter Dengler, Eugene Deatrick