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Klaus Kinski in Fitzcarraldo (1982)

उपयोगकर्ता समीक्षाएं

Fitzcarraldo

133 समीक्षाएं
8/10

The High of Hope, The Low of Despair...

... two sides of the same coin and two definitions of Klaus Kinski as the titular character who pursues his dreams in the Amazonian forests of Peru, performing a miracle with a boat and an indigenous tribe, while sailing along to a soundtrack provided by Enrico Caruso. A crazy film about a crazy person made by crazy people in a crazy place.
  • Xstal
  • 5 जुल॰ 2020
  • परमालिंक
9/10

A Fever Dream

"A vision had seized hold of me, like the demented fury of a hound that has sunk its teeth into the leg of a deer carcass and is shaking and tugging at the downed game so frantically that the hunter gives up trying to calm him. It was the vision of a large steamship scaling a hill under its own steam, working its way up a steep slope in the jungle..."

So begins the prologue to Werner Herzog's 'Conquest of the Useless,' a compilation of diary entries the director made while shooting 'Fitzcarraldo,' considered by many to be his magnum opus. The film follows Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald- known as Fitzcarraldo- a determined entrepreneur living in Iquitos, Peru. Inspired to attempt the impossible, he plans to haul a 365-tonne steamship over a mountain deep in the jungle, in order to harvest rubber; thereby making enough money to build an opera house in Iquitos. Against the raw power of nature, as well as the machinations of a local tribe, will Fitzcarraldo be successful, or will his scheme prove to be unachievable?

A fascinating, endlessly rewarding piece of work, 'Fitzcarraldo' is a compelling tale examining a multitude of themes. It is a portrait of man's resilience, as well as a metaphor for the human condition and the unwavering struggle to realize one's dreams, no matter how impossible- and improbable- they seem. A profound character study- as well as a thrilling, beautifully shot meditation on the clash between man and nature- there are few films like it; and very few people like its director.

It is a fever dream of ambition. Fitzcarraldo's plan defies reason. As the steamship strains against nature's fury, it becomes more than a mechanical marvel; embodying the indomitable human spirit. Inching upward, it symbolizes man's collective audacity- the relentless pursuit of dreams against all odds. The jungle landscape, meanwhile, is not merely a physical obstacle; it symbolizes internal, as well as external, challenges; be they Fitzcarraldo's inner struggles, doubts or the psychological hurdles he faces on his quest. Its lush greenery conceals danger, while its rivers teem with life and death. Herzog expertly captures the landscape's primal energy- the rustling leaves, the cacophony of unseen creatures- mirroring Fitzcarraldo's inner turmoil.

As the film progresses, the steamship becomes a character in its own right, a symbol of human ambition and folly. The arduous journey up the mountain is fraught with setbacks and challenges, each more daunting than the last. Herzog's direction is unflinching; he does not shy away from the harsh realities of the endeavour, nor does he romanticize Fitzcarraldo's mission. The result is a raw and unvarnished look at the lengths to which one man will go to, to realize his dream.

Moreover, behind the camera, Herzog's commitment to authenticity and his determination to finish the film mirror's his titular character's quest; blurring the line between fiction and reality. He dragged a real steamship over a real mountain, echoing Fitzcarraldo's unwavering belief in- and pursuit of- the impossible. Herzog and his team endured myriad of struggles trying to get the film made, from cast changes to near-fatal accidents. Although he often refers to himself as "clinically sane," with regard to this film, Herzog's total obsession is palpable.

Under Herzog's direction, Thomas Mauch's cinematography is evocative and stunning. Mauch captures the dual sides of the jungle astutely, showing its beauty, as well as its darkness. His clever framing of the steamship highlights the impossibility of Fitzcarraldo's plans, while also serving as a visual metaphor, emphasising the overwhelming power of nature. The jungle surrounds all, dwarfing both man and machine; highlighting the struggle of the individual against an untamed world.

Alongside Mauch's visuals, Popol Vuh's score compounds the dreamlike quality of the narrative. Classic pieces by the likes of Puccini and Verdi are implemented brilliantly, heightening the juxtaposition between the barbarity of nature and the supposed order of man. Epic and distinct, Popol Vuh's original melodies intensify the jungle scenes and underscore Fitzcarraldo's emotional journey. Combined with Mauch's imagery, the score evokes a sense of timelessness, creating a mesmerising audio/visual tapestry that enchants the viewer; weaving threads of eternity into the fabric of Fitzcarraldo's journey.

Furthermore, the production design- from Ulrich Bergfelder and Henning von Gierke- is authentic and atmospheric. Their meticulous attention to detail in the steamship's construction and the recreation of Iquitos captures the era's spirit, enhancing the film's immersive quality. The design team's efforts to authentically depict the Peruvian jungle's daunting environment adds a layer of realism to Fitzcarraldo's quixotic adventure.

Meanwhile, Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus's seamless editing allows the narrative to unfold with a rhythm that mirrors the ebb and flow of the Amazon River itself. This serves to accentuate the contrast between the chaotic jungle and the protagonist's inner turmoil, while also maintaining the suspense that drives Fitzcarraldo's obsessive quest forward. Additionally, Gisela Storch's striking costume design adds depth to the film's visual language, contributing to the overall tapestry of Herzog's ambitious vision.

Klaus Kinski stars as Fitzcarraldo, supported by Claudia Cardinale, Paul Hittscher, José Lewgoy and Miguel Ángel Fuentes. Initially, Jason Robards was cast as the titular character, though left the production soon after encountering the intensity of the Peruvian jungle. Although Herzog flirted with playing the part himself, Kinski was eventually brought on board. As the maniacally determined entrepreneur, Kinski delivers a powerhouse performance, bringing to life perfectly a man of great obsession. Madly magnetic, it is arguably the highlight of his career.

As Molly, Fitzcarraldo's business partner and love interest, Cardinale oozes sophistication and decency. Despite the fact that she has relatively little screen time, Cardinale is excellent, leaving an indelible impression on the viewer. Hittscher and Fuentes both do strong work as members of the steamship's crew, while Lewgoy brings a welcome light energy to his role as a businessman who sparks Fitzcarraldo's interest in the rubber trade.

'Fitzcarraldo' is a fascinating film, an adventure into the Peruvian jungle and the mind of an obsessive personality. Written and directed by the incomparable Werner Herzog, it is impossible to forget, containing imagery and examining themes that stir the soul. Boasting an effective score, detailed production design and powerhouse performances from all in the cast- led by a pitch perfect Klaus Kinski- it is a fever dream you'll always remember.
  • reelreviewsandrecommendations
  • 21 अप्रैल 2024
  • परमालिंक
8/10

Herzog's films are deeply personal, visually exciting and uncompromising

His films are perfect examples of the European tradition of the 'auteur' film, in which the director is seen as the originating and creative force behind the work… But there is also a sense that Herzog's visionary monomaniacs function as the director's alter ego, embodying the heroic status of the auteur, always struggling against recalcitrant reality to fulfill his dream…

This seems especially true of "Fitzcarraldo," which, sets a hundred years ago, begins with an Irish colonist who had a passion for opera rowing 1,200 miles down a South American river, accompanied by the madam of a brothel, in order to hear the great Caruso perform…

Inspired by this experience, Fitzcarraldo embarks on a grandiose plan to open up the Amazonian jungle to river transport, providing access to new rubber plantations and thereby making enough money to build an opera house…

Herzog's favorite actor, Klaus Kinski, is as appropriately manic as Fitzcarraldo, eyes glittering madly as he pursues his vision… In the central sequence he organizes a tribe of Indians to help him pull a steamboat across a mountain in order to by-pass dangerous rapids…

"Fitcarraldo" seems by turns admiring of its hero's megalomania and mocking of his hubris, with no illusions about the cynical exploitation of the region's riches by the rubber barons whom Fitzcarraldo tries to defeat by cleverness… Ultimately though, it is the sheer spectacle which we remember
  • Nazi_Fighter_David
  • 8 दिस॰ 2008
  • परमालिंक
10/10

An eccentric visionary brings opera to the jungle

Based on a historic figure, this is the story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (Klaus Kinski), known as "Fitzcarraldo", an eccentric visionary living in Amazonia. He first tried building a Trans-Andean Railroad, but went bankrupt. When we meet him, he's trying to make a living by selling ice to Amazonia natives, although we first see him on a small boat with his sometimes significant other, Molly (Claudia Cardinale). They've traveled 1200 miles down the Amazon to an opera house to hear Enrico Caruso sing, because Fitzcarraldo is an opera fanatic who especially loves Caruso. He loves opera so much that he dreams of building an opera house in the relatively remote outpost of Iquitos, Peru, where he's been living. Understandably unable to find backers for such a venture among Iquitos' wealthy rubber industry leaders, Fitzcarraldo hits upon a scheme for making a bundle of money, and which would eventually enable him to fund the opera house himself. Unfortunately, not all goes as planned.

Fitzcarraldo was a notoriously difficult film to make. Documentarian Les Blank even made his own film detailing some of the difficulties and apparent ironies, The Burden of Dreams (1982). Director Werner Herzog hauled his cast and crew to Amazonia for the shoot, where they ended up trapped in the rain forest for months. At one point the filmmakers' camp was set fire by Indians who objected to the production, there was an air crash in which some of the crew died, and a couple outrageous "stunts" in the film--including the main plot device of the climax--actually were outrageous, dangerous tasks rather than safe effects/model shots, as we'd expect them to be. Just the idea of pulling off the main stunt caused the Brazilian engineer initially associated with the project to abandon involvement. A number of cast members also backed out, including Mick Jagger and Jason Robards, who were both signed on at different points to play Kinski's role. Knowledge of these kinds of issues makes Fitzcarraldo even more fun to watch, and makes the fact that it was completed at all, not to mention that it is such an elegant masterpiece, more remarkable.

The tone of Fitzcarraldo overall closely matches Kinski's depiction of titular character. It is quirky and surreal, but very subtly yet satisfyingly so, with both an almost garish bizarreness (Kinski is quite odd looking in a way) balanced with a sublime beauty. Herzog imbues the film with a lot of gorgeous cinematography, enhanced by his unique sense of pacing. For example, he'll set the mood of a dawn/dusk scene with a lingering shot of a colorful sky, which then functions as symbolic of a night's events without directly showing them. Herzog matches this same technique in his action--he has an ability to say as much with what he doesn't show his actors doing (or saying) as with more conspicuous content.

Herzog also shows himself to be a master of selecting music to enhance mood and tell a story, as he balances an atmospheric Brian Eno-ish score from Popol Vuh, native jungle music, and vintage turn or the century recordings of Caruso singing Bellini, Verdi, Puccini and such. Of course opera is an important plot device that enters the film at various critical points. Even if you don't like opera, however, Herzog and Kinski make it (and the motivation for it) attractive in context, and you may just find this film beginning to turn around your feelings for that music.

It's interesting to note that even with Herzog's unusual pacing, the flow of the film always seems "natural". Fitzcarraldo also has an unusual plot structure, as it almost stream-of-consciously moves from opera in a formal European-seeming setting to a historical dramatic depiction of eccentrics in a native-filled Peruvian town, and then to an exciting adventure tale that is the heart of the film before it finally reaches an irony-filled, beautifully surreal dénouement. The constant throughout all of this is Fitzcarraldo, of course, who can't help being eccentric but charming, both to the film's audience and to other characters.

Fitzcarraldo is often interpreted as being somewhat critical of western encroachment on other cultures, such as Amazonia. Under this view, Herzog is usually seen as ironically "guilty" of the same actions that he's indicting. However, the film does not read as criticism to me. It's much more in line with what is usually considered to be a romantic tendency in Herzog. Fitzcarraldo is not at all a villain in the film, and neither are the European rubber barons. Instead, Fitzcarraldo is lovable and admirable if a bit crazy. The introduction of western culture doesn't end up being a negative. The natives in the film still retain their unique identities, and efforts are made to interact with them in their manner, not to adapt them to Eurocentrism. Cultural change may be inevitable with interaction, but the message of Fitzcarraldo is more that the interaction can produce unique, worthwhile cultures that are amalgamations of their precursors.

Another interesting subtext is that of Fitzcarraldo as Orpheus. Just as Orpheus enchanted wild beasts, trees and rocks on Mount Olympus with his lyre, causing them to "move from their places", Fitzcarraldo uses opera to enchant the natural world in which he is ensconced, eventually "moving mountains".
  • BrandtSponseller
  • 23 अप्रैल 2005
  • परमालिंक
9/10

Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad...

This is a work of fiction, although the idea for the story and the name came from a real person who actually lived at Iquitos, Peru, and who was a rubber (not robber) baron in the eighteen-nineties.

Arguably, Klaus Kinski (as Fitzcarraldo) was born to play the main role – although Werner Herzog considered taking up the role himself. But, no one can play an eccentric the way Kinski did in this film. It's not Nosferatu (1979), but the wide, staring eyes are looking at you, all the time, in the same spooky way.

And, only an eccentric of the most magnificent kind would dare to take a 340-ton ship up the Amazon and carry it over a mountain down to another river! Isn't that just one of the craziest things you've ever heard of? Well, the truth is Herzog actually did do that and simply used Kinski as his surrogate to prance around the mud and clay, with the local Indians, and generally taking the praise for a job well done. There were no special effects – the production team actually pushed and pulled that hulk up a slope of hundreds of meters and then down to another river.

So, who was really crazy: Herzog or Fitzcarraldo?

Never mind that: just see this movie for the lush, primeval jungles of South America; for the rich tones of various opera singers, including Caruso (on a phonograph); for the stunning photography aboard the ill-fated Molly; for the antics of Kinski, as he thrashes around, pushing himself and others to the limits; for the army of local Indians, pulling the ship over the mountain; for the haunting sound-track provided by Popul Vuh, Herzog's perennial musical team of choice; and, of course, for the lovely Claudia Cardinale – past her prime but still remarkable...

I love this movie and I hope you do also. And, when you have seen it, then see Burden of Dreams (1982), the film that tells the story of the making of Fitzcarraldo. It's maybe better than the fiction...
  • RJBurke1942
  • 26 जन॰ 2007
  • परमालिंक
8/10

Spectacular Achievement

This film was a real labour of love for Werner Herzog (he said at the time of making it: "I live my life or end my life with this film"). The movie tells the story of an entrepreneaur (Klaus Kinski) who is obssessed with the idea of building a Grand Opera house in the Peruvian jungle. To get the money to do this however, he has to set off on a long and dangerous journey to open up new trade routes for a previously inaccessible part of the jungle, rich in valuable rubber trees.

The most famous image in the film is the hauling of a large steam-boat up the side of a mountain (a feat which was achieved by the film-makers without the aid of special effects). Visually, the film is spectacular and everything is beautifully photographed. Kinski is superb as the crazed adventurer.

On the minus side, however, some viewers might be put off by the slow pace of the film.

This film stands as one of Herzog's best, and most accessible works, and is a must-see for anyone.
  • RobertF87
  • 6 जुल॰ 2003
  • परमालिंक
10/10

Magical masterpiece of film technique

Amazingly beautiful, well-acted jungle drama details entrepreneur Fitzcarraldo's attempts to mine rubber in order to raise money to accomplish his dream -- to bring grand opera to his tiny town in Peru. Girlfriend Cardinale buys him a boat (to help with the mining), but unfortunately can't go on the journey, which ends up with Fitz and hundreds of indians physically dragging the huge riverboat over a mountain. Kinski's performance is top of the line, very good direction, some very memorable scenes -- Fitzcarraldo on top of his boat playing Caruso records into the jungle, the huge boat cresting the wave of the mountain, and even the triumphant ending rings true. The best film by Werner Herzog that I have seen.
  • funkyfry
  • 9 अक्टू॰ 2002
  • परमालिंक

Of Opera And Headhunters

One of the strangest films I have seen in some time tells the story of a South American rubber baron named Brian Fitzgerald, better known as Fitzcarraldo (Klaus Kinski), a man who dreams of building an opera house in the jungles of the Amazon.

With his white coat, white hat, and his bleached blonde hair, Fitz is quite an eccentric. In a social context, he's an outsider. But he has a bold vision. His romantic sidekick is a woman named Molly (Claudia Cardinale). As a compliment to Fitz, she speaks the film's theme: "It's only the dreamers who move mountains".

After some preparation early in the film, Fitz and crew set sail up the Amazon on a huge boat, to stake out a claim for their business that will bring in the money to advance Fitzcarraldo's dream. The boat is equipped with all the necessities, which include, naturally, a gramophone to play the operatic music of Enrico Caruso. And the best sequences of the film are those set in the remote jungle, as the boat moves through a large tributary of the Amazon, into headhunter territory. With the gramophone blaring out opera amid the sound of Indian war drums, it's the unusual contrast between the primitive and the cultural that makes this film interesting.

Filmed entirely in South America, the story is set in the early years of the twentieth century, long before the advent of television or automobiles.

Color cinematography is quite good. This is a very physical story. Most scenes take place outdoors. And the remoteness of the setting conveys a sense of doom, a sense of unknown terror and foreboding.

While the visuals are stunning, some aspects of the story I'm just not sure about. I never did figure out the significance of the ice. Is that a reward for Indian cooperation? If so, how can ice be preserved in a land without electricity? And without electricity, isn't the whole idea of an opera house in the wilderness a tad ludicrous? Maybe these questions are all answered and I just missed them. Even so, these issues could have been better addressed in the script.

Not as deeply thematic as "Aguirre: The Wrath Of God" (1972), Werner Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo" nevertheless is an unusual film, one that is worth watching for its stunning visuals and thematic contrasts, its physicality, and the eccentric character of Fitzcarraldo, the dreamer who can move mountains.
  • Lechuguilla
  • 22 अग॰ 2009
  • परमालिंक
7/10

Audacious and imperfect, unique and disappointing

Fitzcarraldo (1982)

The plot, and the necessary parallel in making the movie, is audacious, and the end is a quiet, satisfying thrill. That, and the intense performance by the lead, Klaus Kinski, is what keeps people watching this movie, which is utterly unique.

But Fitzcarraldo is not especially lyrical, original, well-written, or well-acted. It has not worn well. I first saw it sometime in the 1980s and it was somehow mesmerizing, if imperfect. The whole exotic flavor of Peru and these foreigners acting exceedingly foreign was based on a dreamy idea that high culture (opera) can and should rise above all else. It was a triumph of the spirit of the individual. Twenty years later that is tempered by the absolute imperialism, bombast, blindness, and idiocy of it all. No longer swayed by the aura of the plot, the flaws in the way the film was made jump out.

For starters, the language. To have some native Spanish speakers talking in German and others, with haphazardness, speaking Spanish or some indigenous language, is inconsistent. Not that they should speak English, no way, but either have them seem to be natives with a knowledge of German, or just use subtitles. Further worrisome are the stereotypes, the "types" of people cast as the cook, his lovers, the captain, the natives, and so on, many of whom do not really act so much as play out their cardboard expectations.

The camera-work is interesting because it is not notable--and maybe this is intentional, because too much lyricism would distract from the facts. But the facts, you notice, are not really convincing. We have a fictional movie no matter how painstaking the famous scenes with the boat toward the end. It falters too often into cliché and, actually, mediocrity (I see this even in the last scene, the crowd on the shore, there they are, nothing more is said).

Maybe I take it to literally, and I should blur out the details. Because as a metaphor of possibility, and of the huge price you have to pay to succeed, or to fail beautifully, it still holds up. In some weird way, because it dared to be different, the movie is still remarkable. But something different than I once thought.
  • secondtake
  • 21 दिस॰ 2009
  • परमालिंक
9/10

Beautiful Obsessions...

Full of bravura and inspiring sequences the bizarre epic "Fitzcarraldo" won Werner Herzog the best director award at Cannes Festival in 1982. This is the film that keeps reminding us the words of Oscar Wilde, "We are all in the gutter but some of us look at the stars". Even fewer try to reach the stars and Werner Herzog and his longtime collaborator and frequent adversary Klaus Kinski were certainly the men who have reached them. Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (or Fitzcaralado – the local Indians' name for Fitzgerald) was a visionary, a man with a beautiful obsession who dreamed of a building an opera house in the Peruvian rain forests and bringing the great singer Enrico Caruso there. Fitzcaralado's plan involved dragging a huge steamship over a small mountain to avoid traveling upstream through rapids. This plan was duplicated by Herzog during the production and involved the real Indians actually hauling the boat over the mountain. The image of the boat floating in the clouds and the small figure of Fitzcarraldo dressed in the white suit looking with his crazy wild eyes at the boat is one of the most beautiful and breathtaking visions at the screen ever. This film is not as perfect as Herzog's and Kinski's previous project, the stunning "Aguirre, The Wrath of God" but it is a magnificent and fascinating tale that could only be told by its matchless team of creators.
  • Galina_movie_fan
  • 6 जुल॰ 2005
  • परमालिंक
6/10

Herzog goes Cecil B. DeMille

  • vwild
  • 16 मई 2015
  • परमालिंक
10/10

the most operatic documentary-style epic ever made- fearlessly unique

The story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, aka Fitzcarraldo, is as much the story of his magnanimous pie in the sky ideal to push a boat over a mountain as it is Werner Herzog's own mission to film it. More than a mission- as anyone who saw Burden of Dreams can report- an obsession that might cost a few lives, a good deal of money, and bring a lot of strange first-hand looks at the lives and mind-sets of the natives, but will still bring the greatest of wonders if it gets pulled off. The boat over the mountain is part metaphor, anyway, though not one that's easily pegged into a corner. Achieving something against the odds is something that has been covered in many great films, a quest through man's indelible need to make the impossible possible, be it in a David Lean picture ala Lawrence of Arabia, or in one of Cecil B. DeMille's pictures (and, at times, I wondered if the spirit of one of those old time epic filmmakers came into his mind, if only in bits).

All the while as Herzog is out to map the course of this man who just wants the purity of opera in the jungle, but through a style that is completely all his own, which means that it's not just about one man, but also about the ones around him, the methods to following such delusions of grandeur. Like Aguirre, there's a God complex working in Fitzcarraldo, only this time it's not in the total shroud of madness. There's room for irony, spouts of wild humor (sometimes from Kinski, like when he tries to play an opera record for disinterested party-goers early on in the film), and an overwhelming fascination with what's all around Fitzcarraldo, the jungle, nature, the natives that dwell there and always stick to their indeterminable ways. Watching how Herzog maneuvers through his bulky story is ceaselessly compelling, even in the moments where he just lets the camera take everything in: the waves crashing all around, the boat set against the jungle-scape with the opera singer Caruso in the background, the many faces and poses of the natives and their moments of pure calm versus their unpredictable nature (why do they put on face paint like they're about to go to war, and then nothing happens, don't ask me).

And like in many of his best films, Herzog manages to get much more out of his actors/non-actors and his locations than it might have seemed on paper. Poetry gets set into motion with seemingly the greatest of ease, like a scene where a few natives on a small canoe look on, and Fitzcarraldo thinks about stopping, but they just go on as it's not even worth it, or when he and his first-mate and couple other regulars on the ship try to eat, only surrounded by the natives. Or the shocking moments when after victory seems to be achieved, all is in peril as the boat flaps about on the river and the recording still goes on and on, haunting as anything the jungle can compare to. Indeed, the jungle itself becomes another key part of Herzog's metaphor, even more so than in Aguirre, and it's perfectly exploited (or rendered, depending on point of view) for Herzog's own feelings about the jungle. It's an environment dangerous, alluring, and with the capacity to fear its awesome mass as well as beauty (or, as Herzog said in 'Burden', it's lovable against better judgment), so it's not all taken in at a distance- there isn't so much a real sense of escapism via the hand-held shots unlike in the epics of the directors previously mentioned. Fitcarraldo's own quest then is against nature's own ways- nature is objective and always the same- as the simple notion of moving the boat, and then doing it, goes against nature's true nature, if that makes sense.

In this sense it's a great film of the objective, to which Herzog goes to lengths to capture, *and* the fantastical and subjective, which comes through the operatic portions, and not be bound by nature's usual ways and common sense. Thus it makes perfect sense as well to have Kinski along for the ride, even if it's not his greatest achievement with his most frequent director. It's all in the eyes, practically every step of the way, that one believes this man even through all of the follies and naive flights of fancy, and it's the closest Kinski probably ever came to playing the romantic lead of an adventure picture. Some of the usual scenes of 'damn he's nuts' come up, like his ringing of the town bell. It's another in the line of outcasts he played in Herzog's films, tormented and always in craving for something more, though this time not in a bleak manner. There is the problem that Kinski's presence would be undermined by the many "adequate" images Herzog loves to achieve. Luckily, he stands his ground, and even contributes to the poetry in times of just listening to the Caruso, and gazing on at his dream coming true on the mountainside.

Fitzcarraldo isn't perfect by any means, as it ends up by way of the nature of Herzog's storytelling to almost tell of too much in his scenes. And the English language track I heard sometimes dilutes a few of the performances by feeling too dubbed and a little ridiculous in some instances. But these are just tiny mentions that get overlooked when looking at the success of what is done. Only a director as intelligently deranged and confident as Herzog could have dreamed up this film (based on a true character) and make it as real and alive as the greatest of epic adventures.
  • Quinoa1984
  • 7 जन॰ 2007
  • परमालिंक
6/10

Not a classic

If you've gone out of your way to watch Fitzcarraldo, it's very likely what drew you to it was the incredible documentary Burden of Dreams. I've read many of the reviews here, most have been glowing, and few if any of those have neglected to mention the fact that "he really did pull that ship over the hill".

I have to question though, is the praise for this film truly based on its own merits? Or does the knowledge of the epic backstory, of Herzog's unrelenting war against the jungle, factor into your review?

I would argue, that if we knew nothing of how this film were made, or were told it was all immaculate greenscreen CGI, that this film would not be so lauded.

A few reasons why: 1. The main character's motives are shaky at best. All this for an opera in the jungle? Why? He is clearly mad from the very outset, and while I can sense the 'romantic' viewing of this voyage that Herzog intended, it just doesn't land convincingly 2. I may as well say it... The film is exploitive. Forgetting the making of the film, and how all of this was done for real, and simply watching it on its own merits, it depicts extensive exploitation of local people and their lands. In doing so it makes no effort to show this as exploitive, but rather seems to expect us to ignore it and cheer on the ignorant white characters leading the charge on their pointless and reckless mission 3. The dialogue is atrocious. The movie is frugal with its dialogue and is mostly silence, and when the characters speak you can understand why

Finally, since everyone is so intent on linking this movie to it's behind the scenes documentary, let's talk about another: Heart of Darkness, and the production it showcases, Apocalypse Now. Apocalypse Now is an immaculate film on every level. It's engaging, it's original, it's complex and it's gripping throughout. It's production was similar in scope and context to Fitzcarraldo. But you do not need to have seen Heart of Darkness to appreciate Apocalypse Now, in the way that you desperately need to have seen Burden of Dreams to see value in Fitzcarraldo. And, in case that wasn't enough, Apocalypse Now, a movie that is beloved to this day, was released 3 years before Fitzcarraldo, a movie that feels like it was released in the 60s.

It's not a terrible film, but in my opinion, it's really not very good and I think if we were to all take a step back and analyse why we rate this movie so highly, we might come closer to seeing it for what it really is: a bit of a mess.
  • roryburke2211
  • 16 जन॰ 2023
  • परमालिंक
5/10

Highly Original But Unexciting World Cinema Classic Of South-American Opera Lover

  • ShootingShark
  • 18 जुल॰ 2008
  • परमालिंक
10/10

Great Great Film

This is a quest plot line; the golden chalice is to be found in the interior of the Amazon, a performance by Caruso and his opera company in the early 1900's. Klaus Kinski, of the disheveled blond hair, plays the obsessive opera lover. The town's folks believe him to me loco and well they should since his Trans-Andes railroad bankrupted the dreamer. His ice making operation makes no sense. His dream of Peruvian opera is a laughingstock, but he has an ace up his sleeve, his devoted lover, Claudia Cardinale, the local madam of distinction forks over the front money so Klaus can buy a boat to get to the rubber trees in a remote steamy jungle inhabited by headhunters. Oh, there's another problem. Rapids block access to the rubber trees, so Klaus must take another river parallel to the rapids, and then at a narrow point of land, must drag a steamship over a mountain. Unbelievable, the film crew took three years in the jungle to duplicate the feat, a engineering marvel, or a stunning duplication. My hat is off to Werner Herzog. This is what great adventure and acting is all about.
  • RARubin
  • 9 मई 2005
  • परमालिंक
8/10

fitzcarraldo

Fitzcarraldo is one massive movie in a scale and its movie set looked huge even for that time but even today it looks beautiful and huge in scale and heart,it is actually sad that filmmakers today more love and work under a green screen,i know that is easier and more simple,but it lacks having bigger impact and wow feeling when we are watching it,klaus kinski may be one of hardest actors to work with but that guy was great at acting ,he sold every emotion that he showed to us or hide it and left it to us to figure them out,opera music in a movie was a very beautiful to and ending scene where they are on boat and opera persons are singing was gorgeous looking for eyes and also for ears,fitzcarraldo was one epic movie
  • marmar-69780
  • 5 जुल॰ 2020
  • परमालिंक
8/10

post-war Germany's great romantic

Like Fitzcarraldo, Herzog has a well-known passion for opera--he's been known to conduct on occasion and refers to music as the territory of "ecstatic truth." Film, too, has that potential, if it's released from the literal and the director concentrates on the importance of "great images." It's no surprise, then, that Herzog made Fitzcarraldo without a well-defined narrative goal. He just wanted to see if he could do it.

Filmmaking is a personal and social process for him, not a finished product. It's an extreme version of method acting. Like Fitzcarraldo's lifting of the boat, grand gestures go far for Herzog, if only to show the world that you're great and visionary enough to try. Most of his characters are done in by their obsessive drive (Fitzcarraldo's boat crashing into the rapids, Aguirre madly pacing about on his raft), but leave behind something beautiful. Like a boat being dragged up a mountain in Peru with ropes and pulleys or a gun depot going up like the 4th of July.

You can't give Herzog too much credit--he's been more careful not to be done in by his hubris than any of his characters were. In fact, he's capitalized on it, much the same way Cappola did after Apocalypse Now or Hopper did after Easy Rider. No doubt, the tales of his misadventures contribute as much to his films' popularity as the stories and images themselves, and he's been quick to market his persona with books, talks, and films about himself, the mad director.

But still, Herzog is a great romantic that was born of a time and place (Munich, 1942) with few romantics, which is its own great feat. See Fitzcarraldo for a little bit of that.
  • J. Harlan
  • 5 मई 2001
  • परमालिंक
10/10

The dreamer

  • jotix100
  • 2 अक्टू॰ 2006
  • परमालिंक
7/10

Werner & Klaus can move, move, move any mountain!

Sincerest apologies in advance for this first paragraph that hasn't got anything to do with the movie "Fitzcarraldo" itself, but this just so happens to be the five-thousandth review that I submitted to IMDb. Now, I know there are still quite a lot of users around here that have written many more, but still 5.000 is a massive number, and thank you in case you ever took the time to read one!

Since this is a sort of anniversary review, the choice to watch "Fitzcarraldo" obviously wasn't a random one. I selected this one because Klaus Kinski is one of my top-favorite actors (and my number one most fascinating personality in history), and because that previous Herzog/Kinski collaboration "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" is still one of the most stupendous cinematic experiences I ever beheld. I assumed "Fitzcarraldo" would have the same impact.

To my regret, I didn't nearly love this as much as "Aguirre", but it nevertheless remains one of the most unique stories ever told on film, and the hellish production process of the film itself is also notorious. "Fitzcarraldo" got plagued by all possible kinds of misfortunes, from unworkable weather conditions, over numerous accidents & injuries on the set, to original cast members getting struck with diseases and delays that prevented them from completing their work. Add to this the insane perfectionism of director Herzog and the uncontrollable rage-outbursts of lead actor Klaus Kinski, and we've got ourselves a cult monument in every department.

Kinski and the supportive cast are amazing, the authentic Peruvian filming locations are astonishing, the hundreds of devoted extras are astounding, and the dedication of Werner Herzog is utmost admiring. What is missing then? Well, a story, mainly. "Fitzcarraldo" is impressive and jaw-dropping to look at, but there isn't a whole lot happening. In "Aguirre, Wrath of God" there honestly also wasn't a lot happening, but every moment of the film was compelling. The overload of opera music and sequences of a steamboat on the Amazon isn't as compelling. More than two and a half hours is simply too long for a virtually plotless film. And although quite an eccentric and deranged character, Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald can't hold a candle to Don Lope de Aguirre, who was a macabre and megalomaniacal creep.
  • Coventry
  • 5 अप्रैल 2023
  • परमालिंक
8/10

an incredible feast for the eyes

Visually, this is a stunning film with incredible cinematography of the South American jungles--especially the scene in the rapids. Though the team of Werner Herzog (director) and Klaus Kinsky (lead actor) also teamed up for another Peruvian jungle film (Aguirre: The Wrath of God) just a few years earlier, this film is MUCH more beautifully filmed--as if the prior film allowed Herzog to learn and perfect his craft for the later film. Plus, I found the overall experience more interesting and involving than AGUIRRE. About the only drawback is that at times I felt a bit disconnected from the main character, Fitzcarraldo. I was fascinated by his actions but ultimately didn't really care ABOUT him. While this isn't necessary for a film to be good, it did prevent me from giving the film a slightly higher rating. HOWEVER, this film deserves major kudos for being different and for all the trouble it took to film.

Also, if you do see the film, also try to see the documentary "Burden of Dreams"--a making of feature for "Fitzcarraldo". When you do see it, you learn just how difficult it was to make the film--as if the production was somehow cursed because so many problem occur trying to get the picture completed--such as the loss of the original leading man, Jason Robards.
  • planktonrules
  • 4 फ़र॰ 2006
  • परमालिंक
7/10

Herzog's madness

  • Polaris_DiB
  • 20 फ़र॰ 2007
  • परमालिंक
10/10

Kinski's greatest role

Perhaps Aguirre is the better film but Brian Fitzgerald (Fitzcarraldo) is an even better character. We love dreamers and Fitz may be the greatest dreamer ever created on film. Kinski in his white suit with his "Hair by Charlie Manson" manning the turret atop the Molly Aida, firing volleys of Caruso at the native tribesman. Ah, unforgettable. Herzog is a truly unique voice and has never been afraid to experiment. Fitzcarraldo is one of the experiments that succeeds.
  • csjlong
  • 3 सित॰ 2002
  • परमालिंक
7/10

Kinski's visionary adventurer obsessively hatches a grandiose scheme through the Amazon jungles

An epic and breathtaking film about an eccentric visionary attempting an incredible feat , as Fitzcarraldo is determined to build an opera house in the middle of the Amazon jungles . Equally , he attempts to have Enrico Caruso sing and the strains of Giuseppe Verdi to an Amazing trading-post . Staked by loving Molly , a beautiful madam : Claudia Cardinale , Fitzcarraldo: Kinski pilots the resurrected tub "Molly-Aida" down an uncharted river in search for untapped rubber, wooing the fierce, savage natives with gramophone arias before using their inexpicable collaboration in the ludicrous assignment.

Based on an actual story of a charismatic Irishman's impossible quest at the turn of the Century . Kinski gives an awesome acting as the dreamer who moves mountains , carrying out a monumental mission : hauling the ship manually over a hill towards a parallel waterway . Of note : no special efects were used , everything to watch really occurred during shooting , including hauling large boat over a mountain .

It contains a hypnotic and mysterious musical score by Popol Vuh , Herzog's regular . As well as colorful and brilliant cinematography by Thomas Mauch shot on locatin in Amazons river . The motion picture was competently directed by Werner Herzog . As Werner charts a an ironically course around and indulged illuminating adventure , colonialism with surrealism . This great German director Herzog has made thoughtful and interesting films such as : "Fata Morgana" , "Aguirre Wrath of God" , "The Enigma od Kaspar Hauser", "Heart of Glass" , "Stroszek", "Woyzeck" , "Nosferatu the Vampire", "Where the Green Ants Dream" , "Cobra Verde" ,"Lessons in Darkness", "My Dearest Enemy", "Invincible" , "The White Diamond", "Grizzly Man", "Rescue Dawn" , among others. Rating : 7.5/10 above average and irresistible movie . The flick will appeal to Klaus Kinski fans.
  • ma-cortes
  • 18 जून 2021
  • परमालिंक
2/10

Why do people like this movie?

I have seen many movies in my life, but this is arguably one of the worst. The movie has too moods: it's either very slow and boring or over the top crazy. Keeping in mind how long this movie is, once it ended I felt like I just wasted 2 hours of life.

And don't get me wrong. I am a fan of long and slow movies. My favorite movies is even A Ghost Story, a movie that has a 5 minute long pie eating scene. The difference though is that other slow movies usually make up for the slow pacing by being atmospheric and hitting you with very emotional scenes. This movie has none of that which mostly comes down to the directing.

I like Werner Herzog, but this was not a well made movie. There were some great visuals and landscape shots. But that's the only thing I enjoyed. Other than that the filmmaking felt rather dull and lifeless.

Last but not least, we need to talk about Klaus Kinski. He's a mad man and totally miscast. I know that he is a crazy person and a cultural phenomenon. And I always knew he could act. But his performance in this movie feels so out of place. There is no real change in his character or performance. Fitzcarraldo goes from a crazy sad person to a crazy happy person. How exciting! There is not a single moment of intimacy where the audience gets to know this character and to feel what he feels. Instead this character feels very distant which is why ended up not caring about his fate. An actor similar to Joaquin Phoenix could have given this character his much needed complexity.

All in all, I don't understand why people like this movie. Except for a few nice shots it has nothing redeeming about it.
  • derjonant
  • 8 अक्टू॰ 2021
  • परमालिंक

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