Fitzcarraldo (1982)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog (writer)

Release Date:

10 October 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Music

Plot:

The story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man who intends to build an opera house in the middle of the Peruvian jungle.

Plot Keywords:

Opera | Jungle | Mountain | River | Amazon

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Klaus Kinski	...	Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald - 'Fitzcarraldo'
Claudia Cardinale	...	Molly
José Lewgoy	...	Don Aquilino
Miguel Ángel Fuentes	...	Cholo
Paul Hittscher	...	Captain (Orinoco Paul)
Huerequeque Enrique Bohorquez	...	Huerequeque (The Cook) (as Huerequeque Enrique Bohórquez)
Grande Otelo	...	Station master (as Grande Othelo)
Peter Berling	...	Opera Manager
David Pérez Espinosa	...	Chief of Campa Indians
Milton Nascimento	...	Blackman At Opera House
Ruy Polanah	...	Rubber Baron
Salvador Godínez	...	Old Missionary
Dieter Milz	...	Young Missionary
William Rose	...	Notary (as Bill Rose)
Leoncio Bueno
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Isabel Jimines de Cisneros	...	Opera Singer (uncredited)
Jean-Claude Dreyfus	...	Opera Singer (uncredited)
Jesús Goiri	...	Opera Singer (uncredited)
Veriano Luchetti	...	Opera Singer (uncredited)
Lourdes Magalhaes	...	Opera Singer (uncredited)
Christian Mantilla	...	Opera Singer (uncredited)
Costante Moret	...	Opera Singer (uncredited)
Dimiter Petkov	...	Opera Singer (uncredited)
Mietta Sighele	...	Opera Singer (uncredited)
Liborio Simonella	...	Opera Singer (uncredited)

Directed by
Werner Herzog

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Werner Herzog		writer

Produced by
Werner Herzog	....	producer
Renzo Rossellini	....	associate producer
Walter Saxer	....	executive producer
Willi Segler	....	producer
Lucki Stipetic	....	producer

Original Music by
Popol Vuh

Cinematography by
Thomas Mauch

Film Editing by
Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus

Production Design by
Ulrich Bergfelder
Henning von Gierke

Costume Design by
Gisela Storch

Makeup Department
Gloria Fava	....	hair stylist
Gloria Fava	....	makeup artist
Stefano Fava	....	hair stylist
Stefano Fava	....	makeup artist
Jaque Monteiro	....	assistant makeup artist
Carlos Prieto	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Gustavo Cerff Abulu	....	production manager: Peru (as Gustavo Cerff Arbulú)
George Sluizer	....	production manager: Brazil

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Fred Confalonieri	....	assistant director: Brazil (as Frederico Confalonieri)
Jorge Vignati	....	assistant director

Art Department
César Vivanco Luna	....	construction: Camp Rio Camisea
Jaíme Mourõa Rios	....	construction: Indin camp
Victor Trigoso	....	construction: Camp Rio Camisea

Sound Department
Juarez Dagoberto Costa	....	sound (as Juarez Dagoberto)
Zezé d'Alice	....	sound (as Zezé D'Alice)

Special Effects by
Miguel Vázquez	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Rainer Klausmann	....	second camera
Beat Presser	....	assistant camera
Beat Presser	....	still photographer
Hans-Peter Vogt	....	lighting technician
Raimund Wirner	....	lighting technician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Franz Blumauer	....	assistant costume designer
Elisabeth Irmer	....	assistant costume designer
Rosemary Kaye	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Linda Kuusisto	....	assistant editor
Carola Mai	....	assistant editor

Transportation Department
Tercero Efraín Panaifo Indama	....	tractorist

Other crew
Pedro Natorce Ahuanari	....	boat crew
Dr. Tomás Parraga Aliaga	....	medical staff
Walter Pinedo Alvarez	....	boat crew
Claire André	....	production secretary: Peru
Eglington Ayarza Boulloza	....	technical advisor
Pedro Padilla Chota	....	boat crew
Guardamino Benigno Paucar	....	technical advisor
Victor Tello Pinedo	....	medical staff
Nancy Rios	....	production secretary: Peru
William Rose	....	dialogue director (as William L. Rose)
Anja Schmidt-Zäringer	....	script
Werner Schroeter	....	opera director: stage scene
El Tigre Carlos Calvo Soria	....	forest worker
René Baneo Vazquez	....	boat crew
Rachel Griffiths	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Thanks
Les Blank	....	special thanks
Miguel Camateiri Fernandez	....	thanks
Nicolás Camateiri Fernandez	....	thanks
Pascual Camateiri Fernandez	....	thanks
Peter Matthiessen	....	special thanks
Joseph D. Peckerman	....	special thanks
David Pérez Espinosa	....	thanks
Sam Shepard	....	special thanks
José Koechlin von Stein	....	special thanks: idea

Production Companies

• Filmverlag der Autoren
• Pro-ject Filmproduktion
• Tayrona Entertainment Group (as R.O.E.)
• Werner Herzog Filmproduktion
• Wildlife Films Peru
• Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)

Distributors

• Hemispheric Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• 518 Media (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Ipma (2005) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• New World Pictures (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Altomedia. Co. Ltd. (Korea) (DVD)
• Altomedia. Co. Ltd. (Korea) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Artificial Eye (UK)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• Palace Video (1982) (UK) (VHS)
• Palace Video (1982) (UK) (video) (Betamax)
• Ripley's Home Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD) (boxed set)
• Transvídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Ashininka-Campa Indians  thanks
• Servicio Industrial de la Marina Iquitos (SIMAI)  ship construction

Runtime:

158 min

Country:

Peru | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG (re-rating) (1986) | USA:PG | West Germany:12 (bw) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Amazon Basin, Brazil

Company:

Filmverlag der Autoren

Trivia:

Jack Nicholson was originally set to star in "Fitzcarraldo" but left production.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During one of the boat drifting scenes, crew members can be seen at the top of the boat, including a man wearing jeans who tries to avoid being spotted by the camera.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 5th World (2005)

Soundtrack:

Opera in Manaos

Herzog's films are deeply personal, visually exciting and uncompromising…

His films are perfect examples of the European tradition of the 'auteur' film, in which the director is seen as the originating and creative force behind the work… But there is also a sense that Herzog's visionary monomaniacs function as the director's alter ego, embodying the heroic status of the auteur, always struggling against recalcitrant reality to fulfill his dream…

This seems especially true of "Fitzcarraldo," which, sets a hundred years ago, begins with an Irish colonist who had a passion for opera rowing 1,200 miles down a South American river, accompanied by the madam of a brothel, in order to hear the great Caruso perform…

Inspired by this experience, Fitzcarraldo embarks on a grandiose plan to open up the Amazonian jungle to river transport, providing access to new rubber plantations and thereby making enough money to build an opera house…

Herzog's favorite actor, Klaus Kinski, is as appropriately manic as Fitzcarraldo, eyes glittering madly as he pursues his vision… In the central sequence he organizes a tribe of Indians to help him pull a steamboat across a mountain in order to by-pass dangerous rapids…

"Fitcarraldo" seems by turns admiring of its hero's megalomania and mocking of his hubris, with no illusions about the cynical exploitation of the region's riches by the rubber barons whom Fitzcarraldo tries to defeat by cleverness… Ultimately though, it is the sheer spectacle which we remember…