Aguirre: The Wrath of God

... in his pursuit of the gold of El Dorado while exhibiting incestuous thoughts towards his daughter and a belief he is god - with a supporting cast of treason, mutiny, murder, slavery, cannibalism and monkeys: you consider yourself fortunate not to have been part of the Spanish, or indeed any countries ruthless empire building in the past.

You are however grateful, for the vision and inspirational insight brought to you by Werner Herzog, leaving you transfixed by the pioneers plight, surroundings (visual and audible), naivety and ignorance in their futile quest for immortality and riches. When you couple all this with the challenges of the films gestation, the time of its inception and the instability and unpredictable nature of Klaus Kinski; that it was ever birthed in the first instance turns it into a treasure worth discovering, or rediscovering if you've mislaid your ability to explore new cinematic horizons.

AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD (Werner Herzog - West Germany 1972).

Herzog's daring and unconventional approach in film-making is something very few filmmakers can match. Due to the incredible hardships while filming on location in the Amazonian jungle, the myth surrounding AGUIRRE has almost outgrown the virtues of the film itself and over the years it has become an almost integral part when (re)viewing this film, even more so since Herzog's documentary MY BEST FIEND (1999) was released about his relationship with "best enemy" and star in many of his films, Klaus Kinski.

A mesmerizing exploration of human obsession based on the diaries of Gaspar de Varvajal, a monk who accompanied Gonzalez Pizarro (half-brother of the brutal conqueror of the Incas) and died during the expedition, the film chronicles Pizarro's 1560 Peruvian expedition in search of the legendary city of gold, El Dorado. When the expedition is faltering by the difficult terrain, Pizarro decides to send a small party ahead to determine if exploration should continue. Though Don Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra) is put in charge, he is soon challenged by the ambitious fanatical Aguirre (Klaus Kinski), who against all odds wants the journey to continue, with catastrophic consequences.

One of the key elements in Herzog's work is the use of landscape and the natural surroundings. The Amazonian jungle is a key third dimension in the film and really is a green hell, threatening and unforgiven. There's no romanticism in Herzog's view of nature. The continuing sounds of the running water and the birds are just as important for the story and the despair of Aguirre's men as the ambient electronic soundtrack by the German ensemble Popol Vuh, the ultimate modern and very German pioneers in electronic music, mixing choral chants with electronic samples and organ music. To me it is simply astonishing Herzog decided to use their in a film about 16th century Spanish explorers shot on location in the Amazon and somehow it works wonderfully, a perfect blend of image and sound. Hard to identify a very important element of the "natural soundtrack": what's the name of the bird that produces this whistling shriek, that is heard almost continuously in the background and is one of the most recognizable sounds of Neo-tropical rain forests? A Quetzal?

Klaus Kinski's performance is a perfect match for Aguirre's descent into madness, eerily resemblant to Kinski's own Mad Kraut persona and well-published rampant behavior on the set and his misconduct in general actually. Watching the film for the first time with audio commentary by Herzog and he revealed many things I never heard before. One of the strangest anecdotes is not really about the film itself but is, well..truly one of the most bizarre things I ever heard.

Before the shooting started, Herzog and his crew were boarding for the plane that would bring them from Lima to Cuzco when the airplane had some technical problems. Since the airline company in question already had two or three serious accidents not long before, they decided to wait and take the next plane. Repaired or not, the plane left off anyway and crashed in the Amazonian jungle with the only survivor a young German woman, Juliane Koepcke. After weeks she finally reached a remote Indian village, malnourished, an almost fatal larval infection, close to death. Later Herzog would make a documentary about this, JULIANES STURZ IN DEN DSCHUNGEL (English title: Wings of Hope) (2000). Besides the already astonishing, many times near-fatal accidents and Kinski's impossible madman behavior, this film seemed doomed from the start, like an old curse from the Incas.

For those less familiar with Herzog's work, FITZCARRALDO (1982), also by Herzog and shot under equally horrendous conditions in the Peruvian jungle, would make a good companion piece. For Herzog's relationship with Kinski there is the interesting documentary MEIN LIEBSTER FEIND (My best fiend) (1999).

Camera Obscura --- 10/10

This is neither the masterwork nor the garbage most people see in it. Sure, it has a lot of very strong points - Kinski's acting, a fascinating plot, the original settings, some good cinematography and an unforgettable closing scene. However, the movie seriously suffers from awkward cuts and terrible dramaturgy; and, worst of all, the stiff dialogues and the amateur-class acting of almost everybody besides Kinski (you will note both especially if you speak German) make some scenes unbearable. So all in all, while it may have the potential to be a really great movie, it delivers only sometimes, and in order to call it a masterpiece, you would have to be very generous and overlook many flaws ...

AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD (1972) Spaniards in search of El Dorado descend down an intense mountain peak with barely a path on it. Men slosh through a wet jungle forest with cannibals, dragging horses, cannons and women on thrones with them. Rafts try to navigate harsh rapids with no end in sight, sending one of them into a whirlpool. This is the first ten minutes. And it is probably easier than what it took to make the film.

Werner Herzog's masterpiece follows Klaus Kinski as a conquistador leading a group of men through his personal madness in Peru, searching for the mythical city of gold. Kinski wasn't an actor, he was a time-traveller, and his performances for Herzog are his best. My favorite scene of all his work is in this film early-on: as the huge group of slaves struggle and burn their souls carrying a woman on a throne-chair against the unforgiving jungle mud and trees, Kinski suddenly appears in the middle to offer a helping hand. He writhes and morphs, grabbing the slaves and shoving them, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Fools!!! The sedan chair is stuck!"

AGUIRRE is what got Herzog noticed around the world as part of a new group of German filmmakers along with Fassbinder and Wenders. His previous film was EVEN DWARVES STARTED SMALL, which resulted in Kinski calling him, "A mere dwarf director." The battles between he and Kinski should be legendary by now. The final result in Herzog stating he will grab his gun and kill both himself and Kinski as the actor was threatening to leave the production. Kinski was convinced and finished the film.

This story and more is part of the excellent analog track by Herzog, covering all of the hardcore production that overwhelms the more famous Coppola problems making Apocalypse Now. Herzog didn't have millions of dollars, rather 300 grand, had to live on the rafts for months and deal with the jungle and Kinski. But he never bitches - you do what you have to do, and the film is never compromised, from the costumes, the beautiful real locations and the boat hanging in the tree to the eerie group of small monkeys at the end (which Herzog had to steal, even though he paid for them). The analog track is constant (many now seem to take pauses to watch the film) with background on the idea, actors, filming and philosophies. Yes, that is a real mummy in the cannibal camp, for which Herzog's brother had to buy a passenger ticket for the plane ride over.

The DVD is another fantastic release giving the nice treatment to a title that can't be making them millionaires. The image looks great and is not letterboxed, so I assume that that is how Herzog prefers it. The three trailers didn't add much to the presentation, but that's a minor point. When they are finished with the entire Herzog collection, it will be one of the most fascinating career studies on DVD.

Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski's masterful achievement - Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes) is a rich and powerful film set deep in the the South American rain forest. Ostensibly a piece of historical fiction based on fragmentary evidence concerning one of the many ill-fated attempts to find and conquer the mythic El Dorado (a city of gold rumored to be anywhere from southern Canada to Patagonia), Aguirre operates on so many levels and reflects so many aspects of its story that it is difficult to convey precisely what the film is really about. It is too fictionalized (yet plausible) to fit comfortably in the "historical fiction" shoebox; the dialog is as much a presentistic bit of reflexive thinking as it is fitting for the historical context of the film; and the setting is so breathtaking that without a plot and without the brilliant concept and fantastic acting, the film would still be breathtaking and painful.

The opening scene, which very slowly depicts a caravan of Spanish soldiers, African and South American Indian slaves, burros, horses, cannons, and provisions making their way down a steep mountain path surrounded by miles of rain forest, is breathtaking and ominous, and sets not just the tone, but the pace of the film. Many people will find the pace a little too slow to handle. After a few minutes of struggle, the nobleman leader of the expedition throws in, and appoints a small number of participants to go forward into the jungle. Of these, only Lope Del Aguirre, a career soldier with vast ruthless ambition, and Ursua, a more gentle nobleman, are really leadership material. As the party floats down-river on rafts, it rapidly becomes clear by whose will the party continues on, and who will emerge as its sole leader in the end.

Herzog develops some of his usual themes in this film, and does so with poignancy and cinematography nothing short of beauty. The film is about power, madness, religion, oppression, nature, and culture, but certainly does not stop there. This is film as high art. Brilliantly executed, multi-faceted, moving, and as ambiguous as real life so often is.

This is also one of the great actor Klaus Kinski's most profound and appealing roles. Though Kinski was later typecast in mad, or at least eccentric, roles, as Aguirre he is able to show his range very effectively - because the character varies from a cold, brooding, Machiavellian rationalism to an obsessive sociopathic suicidalism. The rest of the cast rises to the challenge and acts right at Kinski's level, making this film one of the best actors/production team collaborations I have ever seen.

This film is definitely not for everybody, it is a long, slow sip of delicious and yet bitter wine which the typical movie-goer will only appreciate when 'in the mood' for something which requires thought and energy to watch. It is also one of my favorite films of all time.