Directed by Werner Herzog and released in 1972, .Aguirre, The Wrath of God. was the picture that exposed Herzog to the general public and made him one of the heroes of the German New Wave.

Similar in theme to Conrad.s .Heart of Darkness,. this movie could easily be known as .Apocalypse Then.. Filmed on location, Herzog visually exploits the lush natural setting of the Amazon until it becomes its own guarded character, akin to the impenetrable and inscrutable goal of the doomed expedition Aguirre is leading. The forest has a disintegrating effect on the Aguirre party, and this effect is not lost in Herzog.s direction and the exposition. The more familiar the forest becomes, the stranger it seems, and the greater the heights of Aguirre.s dizzying madness. He is right at home here.

The stunning Klaus Kinski performance comes straight from the .I am so fucking crazy. school of acting. Look specifically for the scene where Aguirre stares shamelessly into the camera and identifies himself. What may have been a goof becomes a moment of true brilliance. The bit with the monkeys is good, too.

Herzog returns to the Amazon for .Fitzcarraldo.(1982), another Kinski collaboration. Although the movies have different outcomes, their central premises are similar: Obsessive man undertakes insurmountable task in foreign realm to attain impossible dream.

Notably slicker than .Aguirre,. it is set nearly 400 years after the Pizarro expedition for El Dorado actually took place. The production value is grander and more elaborate, employing dozens of indigenous people to act as extras in the movie. Most notable is that the crew manages to drag a 100-foot steamship over a fucking mountain and set it down in the river on the other side. Just watch it, really.

GJM
