Werner
Herzog had started to direct movies in the 1960s although with
relatively limited sucess. His output of documentaries and art-house
pictures had won critical acclaim but left most audiences cold. With Aguirre, Herzog created his first genre picture, and the first film that would win him widespread public fame.
The 16th Century, Spanish Conquistadors in South America have been told about the existance of a city of gold, El Dorado.
A group of soldiers and explorers head down from the mountains into the
jungle where a small group is sent downriver to ascertain the location
of the city and find food. The group is lead by Pedro de Ursula,
with Lope de Aguirre (Klaus Kinski) in second command, and a
nobleman, Fernado de Guzman. As they head downstream, splits open
between the leaders, and eventually Aguirre has Ursula shot before
declaring Guzman the new Emperor of El Dorado. As they continue
downstream, getting weaker from lack of food, Aguirre gradually becomes
more insane - eventually declaring himself to be the very Wrath of
God....
Lope
de Aguirre was a real historical figure, Herzog chanced upon a
discription of him in a book and wrote the screenplay within a couple
of days. Little is known about the real man, only the names of those on the expedition, the fact that he overthrew Ursula
and eventually sent a proclamation unseating King Phillip of Spain.
Since the film was actually shot in the Peruvian jungle, the script was
continually adapted to the situation as it developed - this works very
well, allowing a number of unpredictable elements to be worked in and
giving it a greater level of realism. The storyline is very simple, it
does not suffer from awkward subplots or unnecessary characters - this
means that most of the soldier characters remain merely extras and the focus remains on the lead characters throughtout,
which keeps the pacing at a strong level. The film actually slows down
as it progresses, representing the confusion and lack of direction the
group have, culminating in a wonderfully anti-climactic and
enigmatic ending.
Shot with a single 35mm camera entirely on location, Aguirre
has a very realistic, almost documentary-like feel to it. This is broken up with some curious stylistic moments which gradually
becoming more obvious and surreal towards the end. Like many of Herzog's films
there is a very dreamlike ambience, aided by the powerful soundtrack
from Florian Fricke/Popul Vuh.
For
most of the film, the only actor you notice is Klaus Kinski. As with
most of his best performances, he plays a man bordering on the edge
between visionary and lunacy, in a way very similar to himself - his
simmering insanity throughout the film is expressed with utter genius.
The
rest of the cast have a naturalistic feel and all look good.
Simply put, Aguirre: The Wrath of God is
one of the best movies ever made - avoiding the unnecessarily long
run-time and hence the dragging plots of most 'epics' and boasting
an authenticity and immediacy that studio work could never capture. The film is a pure work of art and comes highly recommended to everyone
- this is a must see film and a perfect place to start an discovery of
Herzog's impressive oeuvre.
In Brief
Anyone famous in it?
Klaus Kinski - One of the biggest names in Euro-cult cinema, most famous for his 5 films with Herzog.
Directed by anyone interesting?
Werner Herzog - one of European cinema's best directors with a powerful artistic vision in all his films.
Any violence/gore?
Several killings, nothing too violent.
Any sex?
None.
Who is it for?
This amazing film
Good soundtrack
A powerful and haunting score from Florian Fricke that really builds the atmosphere.
The DVD
Visuals
Original Aspect Ratio - 1.33:1 fullscreen. Colour. The
print is of a good quality, with minimal damage but a generally
softness to the image. There is a blue line just off the edge of the
image on the left for most of the film, visible on some of the
screenshots, that can get annoying.
Audio
German
5.1 and 2.0, English mono. All tracks sound decent, the German tracks
have decent stereo seperation but the 5.1 track is unimpressive.
