Cobra Verde (1987)

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writers:

Werner Herzog
Bruce Chatwin (novel)

Release Date:

3 December 1987 (West Germany)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

The slaves will sell their masters and grow wings...

Plot:

The feared bandit Cobra Verde (Klaus Kinski) is hired by a plantation owner to supervise his slaves...

Plot Keywords:

Slave | Africa | Bandit | Plantation | Sugar

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Klaus Kinski	...	Francisco Manoel da Silva / Cobra Verde
King Ampaw	...	Taparica
José Lewgoy	...	Don Octavio Coutinho
Salvatore Basile	...	Captain Fraternidade
Peter Berling	...	Bernabé
Guillermo Coronel	...	Euclides
Nana Agyefi Kwame II	...	Bossa Ahadee (as His Royal Highness Nana Agyefi Kwame II of Nsein)
Nana Fedu Abodo	...	Yovogan
Kofi Yerenkyi	...	Bakoko
Kwesi Fase	...	Kankpe
Benito Stefanelli	...	Pedro Vicente
Kofi Bryan
Carlos Mayolo	...	Governor of Bahia
Pedro Oliveira
A. Kwesi Compson
Yolanda García	...	Dona Epiphania
Stella Torgbede
Diobeth Guerra
Santiago García
Marcela Ampudia	...	Bonita
Maria Elvira Chavez Mejia	...	Wanderleide
Luz Marina Rodriguez Molina	...	Valkyria
León Bolaño
Josué Ángel
Mario Gomez Vignes
Maurizio Rodriguez
Maria Xilena Mantilla
Awudu Adama
Josephine Hudson-Odoi
Ho Ziavi' Zigi Cultural Troupe	...	Dancing Choir
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fred Maire	...	Francisco Manoel da Silva (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Werner Herzog

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Bruce Chatwin		novel "The Viceroy of Ouidah"
Werner Herzog

Produced by
Francis Annan	....	co-producer: Ghana Film Industry Corp.
Salvatore Basile	....	co-executive producer
Kofi Bryan	....	co-producer: Ghana Film Industry Corp.
Walter Saxer	....	executive producer
George Smith	....	co-producer: Ghana Film Industry Corp.
Lucki Stipetic	....	producer
Kofi Yerenkyi	....	co-producer: Ghana Film Industry Corp.

Original Music by
Popol Vuh

Cinematography by
Viktor Ruzicka

Film Editing by
Maximiliane Mainka

Production Design by
Ulrich Bergfelder

Costume Design by
Gisela Storch

Makeup Department
Berthold Sack	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Antonio Jordao Gomes da Costa	....	unit manager: Ghana
Diobeth Guerra	....	unit manager: Brazil
Pedro Jungmann	....	unit manager: Brazil
Jacqueline Lemaitre Basile	....	unit manager: Colombia
Ina Lüders	....	unit manager: Ghana
Fernando Umana	....	unit manager: Colombia (as Fernando Umaña Pavolini)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Salvatore Basile	....	assistant director
Christine Ebenberger	....	assistant director

Art Department
Fabrizio Carola	....	construction coordinator
Bernd Grotzke	....	property master

Sound Department
Milan Bor	....	sound mixer
Friedrich M. Dosch	....	sound editor
Ray Gillon	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Rudolf Hellwig	....	boom operator
Haymo Heyder	....	sound recordist: location recording (as Haymo Henry Heyder)
Hans-Walter Kramski	....	foley artist
Jörn Poetzl	....	foley artist (as Joern Poetzl)
Silvana Zafosnik	....	assistant sound editor
Hans Zeiler	....	sound editor

Stunts
Benito Stefanelli	....	stunt coordinator
Marco Stefanelli	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Mahama Alhassan	....	assistant camera
Ben Allordeh	....	assistant camera
Carlos Congote	....	assistant camera
Hermann Fahr	....	assistant camera
Martin Gerbl	....	gaffer
Beat Presser	....	still photographer
Jorge Ruiz	....	second camera operator
William Sefa	....	second camera operator
Daniel Valencia	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Silvia Grabowski	....	assistant costume designer
Rosario Lozano	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Rainer Standke	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Ralph Graf	....	music recordist

Other crew
Gloria Saxer	....	caterer
Anja Schmidt-Zäringer	....	script

Production Companies

• Werner Herzog Filmproduktion
• Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) (co-production)
• Ghana Film Industry Corporation (co-production)
• De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) (uncredited)

Distributors

• 518 Media (2007) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Concorde Filmverleih (1987) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• DMV Distribuzione (1988) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Hemispheric Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Ipma (2005) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1988) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Union Films S.A. (1988) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Arthaus Filmverleih (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Atlantic Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Cine International (1987) (worldwide) (all media)
• Future Film (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Kino Video (1989) (Greece) (VHS)
• Ripley's Home Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD) (boxed set)
• Screen Life (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1988) (West Germany) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Bavaria Film  post-production facilities

Also Known As:

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

West Germany | Ghana

Language:

German | Ewe | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Norway:16 | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG | Spain:13 | Denmark:11 | Portugal:M/12 (video) | Sweden:15 | Italy:T | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Bahia, Brazil

Company:

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

Trivia:

Was originally picked up for U.S. theatrical distribution by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, but the theatrical release intended for the U.S. was cancelled after DEG fell into bankruptcy. It would not get released in the U.S. until the year 2000, when Anchor Bay released it on DVD and VHS for the first time in the U.S.

Quotes:

Francisco Manoel da Silva:I don't trust shoes.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Crude (2009)

Powerful, moody and surreal

This movie is very absorbing: the cinematography is excellent, and the movie is full of eye-popping scenery and images, as well as intense exchanges of dialogue. One just doesn't find this combination at the movies very often.

Parts of the movie have such vivid but exotic imagery, that it seems surreal (the segment where the Amazon warriors are gathering for battle is a case in point!). Other parts seem almost operatic - especially the exchanges between Francisco Manoel da Silva (Klaus Kinski) and the mad African king, who has taken da Silva prisoner and plans to kill him.

Klaus Kinski is totally compelling in the lead role as Cobra Verde, a swashbuckling bandit-rogue who, partly through fate, partly through crooked machinations of those around him, gets sent off to a Brazilian slave fortress on the coast of West Africa to scout for slaves to bring back to Brazil. I had forgotten how old a man Mr. Kinski was, and was curious to find out his age when he made this film. I checked his stats, and to my astonishment I discovered that he was 62 years old when he made this film. His performance is truly amazing. Would that I have that much fire and energy when I am 62!

I heartily recommend this movie to anyone who is sick and tired of the usual pap that too often fills the screens these days. Though this film was made in 1988, nothing in it seems dated. Just based on its subject matter, it already has a built-in "timeless" quality to it. I think it will hold up well over the years. Go rent it!

By the way, for those of you who like these sorts of films, then another movie that I would recommend as a companion piece to this film is James Ivory's "Heat and Dust" (1982). Though much more "tranquil" and sans the fiery acting of a Klaus Kinski in the lead role, that film, set in India, too had excellent cinematography and a compelling, historically-based story with memorable images and characters.