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:

Incredibly intense film

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

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)

Incredibly intense film

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

Herzog is one my favorite directors, whose 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. Especially over the last ten years, AGUIRRE has achieved an almost infallible reputation, by the general public and critics alike.

This mesmerizing exploration of human obsession is 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 the 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. They were mixing a sort choral chants with electronic samples and organ music, very modern and very German pioneers in electronic music. To me it is simply astonishing Herzog decided to use their completely off-the-hook very modern music (in 1971!) 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. I cannot 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? I'm not sure. It bugs me a little that I can't remember. I'll have to look it up.

Klaus Kinski's performance is perfectly suiting 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. I was 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