Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972)

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog (written by)

Release Date:

3 April 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History

Tagline:

On this river, God never finished his creation.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

River | Expedition | Spanish | Empire | Inca

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Justo González	...	González
Antonio Marquez

Also Known As:

Aguirre, Wrath of God (UK)
Aguirre: The Wrath of God (USA)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12 | South Korea:15 | South Korea:12 (2002) | 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:

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

Trivia:

Although the opening titles claim the film was based on "the diary of the monk Gaspar de Carvajal", director Werner Herzog has stated that there is no historical basis for the story and that the monk's diary was invented to lend it more credence. However, a diary of Carvajal does in fact exist, but Carvajal was not part of any expedition with Aguirre, but rather part of one 20 years earlier to the interior.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Peruvian Indians are dressed in clothes that were imported by Spanish people in 19th Century. The Aguirre story is setted in 16th Century.

Quotes:

Don Lope de Aguirre: That man is a head taller than me. That may change.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Aguirre, Der Zorn Gottes (Lacrime Di Re)

The Women

This is an amazing experience, becoming more so the further we get from it. When I see 'Apocalypse Now, or even 'Mosquito Coast' I see this. In fact whenever I see both an actor AND a director/writer risking all in a coordinated way, I see this. And when I see a combination of fictional documentary and highly stylized poses, a memory of this glistens.

I highly suggest a periodic refresh-viewing of this film on a big screen, followed of course by 'Fizcarraldo.' with some life-affirming experience in between. In that film, the jungle and river is engaged, animate: here it forms an organic container for fantasies. This is one of the most visual film experiences you will have, but so much of what you take away is what is not seen. Superficially, it is a depiction of madness in a context of religious colonialism, rank exploitation.

But the complexities abound, and the one that captured me this time around was the women. The first scene is the most promising in all filmdom. In addition to its beauty, we get it all in promises; and among the promises is the women. Two senior-level military men are allowed to bring females on an expedition worthy of Bird or Lewis and Clark - this at extreme expense. The obvious reason for the women is as breeders to populate the New Jerusalem of riches and religious conquest.

One woman we understand, an adult mistress to a noble soul. We learn more about her than anyone else save the 'Negro.' She is played by an accomplished actress, and acts. The other woman is a fifteen year old. A daughter, already aware of a forthcoming incestuous dynasty and resigned to a life with her deformed father in a magical future to be obtained only by passing through a barrier of tests. She, like the local Indians, is played by a non-actress, in fact a girl plucked out of a Peruvian high school nearly at random.

The less she does, the more transcendent her presence. We don't see her die, but as she knows she is dying she looks at her father as if to transfer all her energy to the space immediately surrounding him. That space does become filled with fantastic life on the raft and all that surrounds it, creating the sequence that ends the film. That scene perfectly compliments the first, where the people are the river bringing their seed to the promised land. In the last, the seed is released and the river itself carries the offspring of the imagination to the treetops.

Ted's Evaluation -- 4 of 4: Every visually literate person should experience this.