El Dorado - Gier nach Gold

There were not so many films about conquistadores in the movie history, not so many; I only know those three. And I stlll search for more material to purchase. This film seems more accurate to the actual truth and details, the preparation was very very meticulous, focusing less on the myth and eerie atmosphere - as Werner Herzog did - than on factual events. ORO was I guess more fiction material, but very interesting too. So, you can watch AGUIRRE and this one, you'll then have two approaches for the same subject. In AGUIRRE, Herzog litterally created this special, suffocating, wet, lethal, madly atmosphere, EXCESS IS THE TRUE WORD, but Carlos Saura used it, so far circumstances of the story allowed him to. He did not abuse of it. Saura was the servant of true facts, of pure history. Very subtle difference between two films speaking of the same subject. In both films - Saura's and Herzog's - Aguirre character is not shown in the same way, though both are ruthless and ambitious. Here Aguirre looks and behaves like a Mafia mob leader, whilst in Herzog"s feature, Klaus Kinski is closer to Colonel Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS than Lucky Luciano.