Aguirre, the Wrath of God

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Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes
Image:Aguirre The Wrath of God DVD cover.jpg Aguirre The Wrath of God DVD cover - Klaus Kinski as Don Lope de Aguirre and Cecilia Rivera as Flores
Directed by	Werner Herzog
Produced by	Werner Herzog
Written by	Werner Herzog
Starring	Klaus Kinski Helena Rojo
Release date(s)	December 29, 1972 West Germany
Running time	100 min
Language	German
Budget	$370,000
IMDb profile

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (German: Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes) is a 1972 German film written and directed by Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski stars in the title role. Arguably the director's most famous film, it was given an extensive arthouse theatrical release in the United States in 1977.

The story follows the travels of Lope de Aguirre, who leads a group of conquistadores down the Amazon River in South America in search of a lost city of gold (El Dorado). The film is in some ways similar to Joseph Conrad's 1902 novella Heart of Darkness, particularly in its basic narrative structure (a river voyage into the jungle), its association of the depths of the jungle with insanity, and its emphasis on the absurdity of colonialism. Several critics have noted that Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film Apocalypse Now, a movie based explicitly (but loosely) on the Conrad novella, was apparently influenced also by Aguirre, as it contains seemingly deliberate visual "quotations" of Herzog's film.

The film opens with a haunting combination of sound and image (a technique Herzog frequently employs, as in Fitzcarraldo and The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser). Using a minimalist story and dialogue and the powerful acting of Kinski, the film creates a compelling vision of madness and folly, counterpointed by the lush but unforgiving Amazonian jungle. The soundtrack is composed and performed by Popol Vuh, a German progressive/ethno band that has also contributed to other Herzog films.

Although based loosely on what is known of the historical figure of Aguirre, the film's story line is, as Herzog acknowledged years after the film's release, a work of imagination. Some of the persons and situations may have been inspired by Gaspar de Carvajal's account of an earlier Amazonian expedition, but Carvajal was not present on the historical voyage represented in the film.

[edit] Production

The film was made for just $370,000, and filmed on location in the Peruvian jungle, just below Macchu Picchu. On one occasion, irritated by the noise from a hut where cast and crew were playing cards, the explosive Klaus Kinski fired three shots at it, blowing the top joint off one extra's finger. Subsequently, Kinski started leaving the jungle location (over Herzog's refusal to fire a sound assistant), only changing his mind after Herzog threatened to shoot first Kinski and then himself. The latter incident has given rise to the legend that Herzog made Kinski act for him at gunpoint. However, Herzog has repeatedly rubbished the claim during interviews, explaining he only verbally threatened Kinski in the heat of the moment, in a desperate attempt to keep him from leaving the set. The famous incident is parodied in Incident at Loch Ness, which Herzog co-wrote.

According to the director's audio commentary provided on the film's U.S. R1 DVD, the camera used to shoot the film was stolen by Herzog from a school he attended. In the commentary, Herzog also revealed how he obtained the monkeys utilized in the climactic sequence. He paid several locals to trap 400 monkeys -- he paid them half in advance and was to pay the other half on receipt. The trappers sold the monkeys to someone in Los Angeles or Miami, and Herzog came to the airport just as the monkeys were being loaded to be shipped out of the country. He pretended to be a veterinarian and claimed that the monkeys needed vaccinations before leaving the country. Abashedly, the handlers unloaded the monkeys, and Herzog loaded them into his jeep and drove away, used them in the shot they were required for, and released them afterwards into the jungle.

[edit] Legacy

Since its release, the film has been revered as a lasting example of superior filmmaking. It has a 96% "Fresh" rating with only one negative review on Rotten Tomatoes. Film critic Roger Ebert has added it to his list of "Great Movies", [1] and in a 2002 BFI poll of critics and filmmakers on the best films ever made, he listed it in his top ten. [2]