Cobra Verde

In principle, I would feel tempted to give it only a six. Except that then there are "buts"... But there is Werner Herzog. But there is the sociopathically brilliant Klaus Kinski. But there is that unforgettable final scene. But there is the historic memory behind the story. But there are silent scenes of sheer contemplation. But there is the image of the fortress of Elmina (originally Ajudá, or Ouidah), that lingers long after you have seen the movie. But there is the amazing sensuality of all those female-warriors in beautiful war outfits. But there is that young girl singing near the end, the lavish, teasing, provocative, self-assured look on her face, the expression in her eyes, the crystalline/aggressive sound of her voice. And 'but' there is the music. If you have read Bruce Chatwin's novel, you will be able to add up some details to the story line. The horror of the Kingdom of Daomé, for instance, is far from what BC described himself - and actually far from what history books tell us. In fact, you could build endless stories inside this movie. That's what makes it so good: all the things missing. It could have been a better achievement, but for all it's worth, it's really not the kind of movie you're likely to forget after a few weeks!

I have to admit the plot of "Cobra Verde" was less impressive and coherent than I anticipated (or hoped…) to be, but it doesn't matter all that much, because this is purely Klaus Kinski's movie. Even though the status and reputation of this movie is too often overshadowed by reports of conflicts & hostility between the director and the lead star, Werner Herzog still undeniably brings some sort of homage to Kinski here. During a lot of scenes, the camera just purposelessly follows him around and there's an incredibly large amount of shots that simply show his facial expressions, and more particularly his insanity-filled eyes, in extreme close-ups. Much more than any film of his that I've seen so far, "Cobra Verde" represents Kinski's most obsessive performance. The lovely title refers to the nickname of Francisco Manuel Da Silva, obviously played by Kinski. At the beginning of the film Da Silva is an ordinary early 19th Century Brazilian farmer mourning over the loss of a beloved one, but in no time he promotes himself into a relentless bandit. His charisma and fearful influence on the locals have him spotted by a sugar-plantation tycoon, who engages Cobra Verde to guard his slaves. But when he impregnates not just one but all three daughters of his employer, Cobra Verde is exiled to Africa to recruit a new slaves and deport them to Brazil. This is meant to be a certain death mission, as the destination – the kingdom of Dahomey – is at war with its neighbors, forbidding slave trade and its king is possibly the one person on earth madder than Da Silva himself. King Adahee (who, for example, wants all dogs killed because they conspire against humans at night) commands to execute Cobra Verde but he escapes, joins the rebellion and trains the fighting skills of an army of over a 1.000 topless women! The screenplay, adapted from a novel by the acclaimed writer Bruce Chatwin, is slightly disappointing because the study on colonialism is rather clichéd, one-dimensional and shallow. The slaves wear chains around their necks, yet the walk around singing and smiling to the crazed white man. The multiple sequences involving mass activity, for example Kinski training the warrior women and a cross-country human telegraph line, as well as the portrayal of typically African rites (dancing and a lot singing) are visually staggering but admittedly they add very little substance. "Cobra Verde" is, as extendedly stated above, a purely brilliant one-man Kinski show. From the scenes where he dominantly arrives in Africa, wearing a grotesque Napoleonesque hat, to the unsettling climax in which he vainly attempts to escapes from the continent as well as from his own personal demons, Kinski is one indescribably fascinating & compelling individual.

Director Werner Herzog and actor Klaus Kinsky did many films together. They were all spectacular because of Herzogs direction and they all had an intensely insane looking leading man because of Kinskys solid performances. Cobra Verde was their last collaboration together because three years after making this film Kinsky died. He left a great legacy as an actor and Cobra Verde is a prime example of that.

The story is about Francisco Manuel (aka the Bandit of Cobra Verde) a bandit who goes from town to town looking for a strange new world. Basically everyone fears him because he is untamable, like a wild beast. One day, he gets a job taking care of slaves in a Sugar Cane field and he gets to live in the same house as his boss, the owner of the fields. Cobra Verde being the bandit that he is has his way with not one, but all three of the bosses daughters and gets them pregnant. The boss, looking for a way to get back at Cobra Verde for what he did, sends him on a mission to Africa to buy more slaves. Of course the bosses real intentions are to get Cobra Verde killed in the journey. What they don't know is that Cobra Verde is not a person who easily gives up and hes a tough cookie to kill. And so begins Cobra Verdes journey into the hot, deadly and colorful depths of Africa.

This movie, like many of Herzogs films is a journey into the unknown. I love how Herzog does that in all his films. Transporting us to strange places that truly exist, but are so wondrous and amazing that they have a surreal dreamlike feel to them. On Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre we went deep into the Amazonian Jungle, but on Cobra Verde we get to see the heart and soul of Africa. Once the movie gets to Africa (on its second half) things get really interesting and you will find yourselves completely immersed in the African culture. From the injustices of slavery to the savagery of African tribes. It was all new, strange and different to me because Herzog really went in there and found incredible real life locations in which to shoot Cobra Verde. Its as if Herzog searches out these incredible places, dives deep into them, and then brings them back to us via his films for us to enjoy.

This movie is epic in scale and it shows in every single frame of film. We get hundreds of extras in many scenes. One particular scene stood out and its the one in which Kinsky trains hundreds of African women all dressed in their war attire and marching while singing their war songs. It was fantastic and epic and I loved every second of it. Not only that but its even more amazing when I learned that this huge looking film only cost two million dollars to make! I was unaware that a film of such grand scale could be made with so little money. Hollywood could learn a thing or two from Herzogs style of film-making.

Klaus Kinsky once again turns in an intense performance as the titular character. He certainly goes in a journey from being a bandit to becoming the king of an African tribe. I really got to like his character because he is a guy who literally does what he wants and has complete freedom over what to do with his life. Nobody tells this guy what to do, but once he sets his sites on achieving a goal (and its usually something pretty daunting) he goes all the way to make it happen.

Even when he accepts the responsibilities and challenges involved in going to Africa and taking slaves back to Brazil considering that slavery is almost completely abolished, he does it with a sure hand, ready to face whatever situations life might hurl at him. And Kinsky does all this with his own brand style, that crazy look the wild hair. In one particular scene in which he is training thousands of African women to go to war he goes completely ballistic trying to teach them how to properly handle a shield and a spear.

I've got a few complaints though, this movie has a few loopholes and unrealistic situations. I think a lot of it has to do with Herzog trying to evoke a feeling of otherworldliness and strangeness but in one particular scene Cobra Verde has to send a message from on place to another and he does it via thousands of people standing in line doing these secret signals with white flags and one person duplicates the message until it reaches the other person hundreds of miles away. This scene might lend itself for a beautiful and strange image, but its completely unrealistic! But I was willing to let it go for sake of artistic liberty. Another thing that grated me the wrong way was how one of the African kings spoke perfect English, as well as all his followers. The scene would have been a lot more believable with the king having a translator, but as it was filmed, its hard to believe that a king in the middle of Africa would speak English, and much less have all his thousands of followers understand him and cheer him. Again, a minor set back in a great film.

Like many of Herzogs films, the pace is sometimes slow, but when Herzog wants to amaze you he will. There will be moments of heavy dialog, and slow situations and then Whamo! Herzog will hit you in the head with something truly amazing. Trust me on this, this movie has many surprises up its sleeves! And you wont be disappointed if you enjoy movies that take you to strange new worlds.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Sarcastic humor for fans of the darkside: Surprise surprise. Herzog makes a film about a man consumed by his dreams and destroyed by the conspiracies of world he lives in. And in a complete reversal from his usual light hearted comedy roles, Klaus Kinski protrays a madman getting madder.

If you liked Agirre or Fitzcaraldo, and would have liked a larger cast including Amazon warrior girls from Africa and National Geo graphic dancing then by all means see this. Warning: no light hearted romance, cute chimps or talking to the animals here. Surreal, dark, morality story with great acting and the best one liner in Herzog's repertoire while watching amazonian spear dancing (are you listening Joe Bob Briggs?)

Who are these women? They are our future murderesses.

'Cobra Verde' is a really great movie!!I was surprised because i never hear this film praised by critics.I've been an avid Herzog fan for years and even after all these years his films still have the power to shock me. there are many bizarre and stunning images in this film.It's really a fascinating movie,and would be good to use in a world history class.Klaus kinski is really great in the title role ,and Herzog's trademark visuals have never been better.Some of the visuals I found to be very disturbing,One scene in particular that is straight out of a jodorowsky film. The film has a very powerful ending that will have great impact on anyone who likes films.See it even if your not into herzog's movies.