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 is one of my all-time favorite film makers, and this is one of my favorite films by him. Actually taken from the diary of the priest who accompanied Pizarro's expedition in 1560, Herzog recreates the pretentious and self-deluded search for the "Lost City of Gold - Eldorado".

Herzog likes true stories...ones that are bizarre in their own right, but with his direction and personal vision, they become profound (and never optimistic). The camera work is always interesting (he single-handedly "patented" camera shots that don't sweep - they ("you") stare and stare - and stare - at a thing or person or place until it becomes abstract, intense, beautiful, threatening, profound), the scoring is always appropriate yet never expected, and his casting, often using the unique talents of the late Klaus Kinski, guarantee nothing less than an intense experience...even in a film like "Aguirre", which SLOWLY claws and slogs it's way along each and every slippery, dangerous, foreign mile of jungle.

It is clear Herzog 'focuses' on the ridiculously high beliefs humans create for and hold of themselves - that they could actually "own" anything, "conquer" anything, outwit that which they do not understand, and by sheer Will cause anything they deem important, to exist. Herzog is NOT a cheerleader for the history of humans, but he is a ponderer... and we are fortunate he does it on film.

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 ...

A Spanish expedition is sent out to travel deep into the jungle and find the legendary city of El Dorado and recover its gold for the throne of Spain. Quickly the expedition gets into trouble and leader Don Pedro de Ursua decides that they must turn back. However to do this is not an option to Don Lope de Aguirre, who leads a violent rebellion, culling those loyal to Ursua and officially breaking off ties with Spain. The group continue down the river in search of their goal but conditions are hard and it is only the increasingly unrealistic aims of Aguirre that drives them onwards.

In both the film and the making of the film this is best sold as a medieval Apocalypse Now as it has a great collection of stories behind it while also being an interesting journey into the mouth of madness. The "making of" is told better other places than I can do here so I shan't bother, but suffice to say that at times the film feels like Herzog is just watching his cast to see what happens and not just following his characters. The plot sees them gradually fall from the pomp and civility that they start the film with and this is no surprise, but the manner in which it happens is still interesting and engaging. Some viewers may find it going where they expect it to, but this should not surprise anyone and it shouldn't stop the majority of people enjoying the journey.

Herzog's direction is strong throughout. He does well with what was a very difficult shoot and he gets plenty of strong shots out of it – all of which still stand up as being impressive by today's standards. His direction of actors may not have been quite as good but the performances are still very good. Kinski is very strong in the lead role and, whether acting or not, he is totally convincing as he loses touch with reality. The support are all good, although Kinski is obviously where the picture is.

Overall an impressive film that is more worthwhile watching because of the stories behind it. The narrative may be simple and obvious enough but it is still very engaging as a journey or rather descent. Is maybe praised a little bit too highly by some but is a fascinating film regardless.

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.