Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972)

Director:

Werner Herzog

Guionista:

Werner Herzog (written by)

Release Date:

3 abril 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Biografía | Drama | History

Frase comercial:

A breathtaking journey into the heart of darkness.

Plot:

In in 16th century, the ruthless and insane Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.

Plot Keywords:

Corporal Punishment | Talking Head | Bizarre | Part Of Trilogy | Whirlpool

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Herzog's masterpiece

Cast

Klaus Kinski	...	Don Lope de Aguirre
Helena Rojo	...	Inez
Del Negro	...	Brother Gaspar de Carvajal
Ruy Guerra	...	Don Pedro de Ursua
Peter Berling	...	Don Fernando de Guzman
Cecilia Rivera	...	Flores
Daniel Ades	...	Perucho (as Dan Ades)
Edward Roland	...	Okello
Alejandro Chavez
Armando Polanah	...	Armando
Daniel Farfán
Julio E. Martínez
Alejandro Repulles	...	Gonzalo Pizarro
Indianern der Kooperative Lauramarca
listado alfabético del resto del reparto:
Justo González	...	González
Antonio Marquez
Gerd Martienzen	...	Voice of Don Lope de Aguirre (voice) (uncredited)

Dirigida por
Werner Herzog

Créditos del guión (in alphabetical order)
Werner Herzog		written by

Producida por
Daniel Camino	....	co-producer
Werner Herzog	....	producer
Hans Prescher	....	producer
Lucki Stipetic	....	line producer

Música original por
Popol Vuh

Fotografía por
Thomas Mauch

Montaje por
Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus

Dirección de producción
Gustavo Cerff Abulu	....	unit manager (as Gustavo Cerff Arbulú)
Walter Saxer	....	production manager
Lucki Stipetic	....	production manager

Departamento de sonido
Bob Oliver	....	synchronisation
Herbert Prasch	....	sound

Efectos especiales
Juvenal Herrera	....	special effects
Miguel Vázquez	....	special effects (as Miguel Vazquez)

Camera and Electrical Department
Francisco Joán	....	second cinematographer
Orlando Macchiavello	....	second cinematographer
Ovidio Ore	....	assistant camera

Otros miembros del equipo
Ina Fritsche	....	co-worker
Martje Grohmann	....	production assistant
Georg Hagmüller	....	co-worker (as Dr. Georg Hagmüller)
René Lechleitner	....	co-worker

Production Companies

• Hessischer Rundfunk (HR)
• Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

Distributors

• Filmverlag der Autoren (1972) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• New Yorker Films (1977) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Applause Productions Inc.
• Ingram International Films
• New Yorker Films (USA) (VHS)
• Národní Filmový Archiv (NFA) (2007) (Czech Republic) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Palace Video (1982) (UK) (VHS)
• Palace Video (1982) (UK) (video) (Betamax)
• Ripley's Home Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD) (boxed set)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)

También conocida como:

Aguirre, Wrath of God (UK)
Aguirre: The Wrath of God (USA)
Aguirre, la cólera de dios (Spain) [es]
Aguirre: la ira de Dios (Chile) [es]

Duración:

93 min

País:

West Germany | Peru | Mexico

Idioma:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sonido:

Mono

Clasificación:

South Korea:12 (2002) | West Germany:12 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:18 | Australia:M (cable rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1991)

Filming Locations:

Aguaruna Lands, Peru

Company:

Hessischer Rundfunk (HR)

Trivialidades:

Herzog did not storyboard a single frame of the film. All of it was shot and framed spontaneously.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In one shot where the camera moves around the rafts, you can see the crew's living arrangements (a bunch of rafts with huts on them) near the bank of the river.

Quotes:

Okello: [Hallucinating] That is no ship. That is no forest.
[Arrow hits him]
Okello: That is no arrow. We just imagine the arrows because we fear them.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Incident at Loch Ness (2004)

Soundtrack:

Aguirre, Der Zorn Gottes (Lacrime Di Re)

Herzog's masterpiece

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.