Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)

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

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog

Stars:

Klaus Kinski, Ruy Guerra, Helena Rojo

5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Klaus Kinski	...	Don Lope de Aguirre
Helena Rojo	...	Inez de Atienza
Del Negro	...	Brother Gaspar de Carvajal
Ruy Guerra	...	Don Pedro de Ursua
Peter Berling	...	Don Fernando de Guzman
Cecilia Rivera	...	Flores
Daniel Ades	...	Perucho
Edward Roland	...	Okello
Alexandra Cheves	...	(as Alejandro Chavez)
Armando Polanah	...	Armando
Daniel Farfán
Julio E. Martínez	...	(as Julio Martinez)
Alejandro Repullés	...	Gonzalo Pizarro
Indianern der Kooperative Lauramarca

Storyline

A few decades after the destruction of the Inca empire, a Spanish expedition leaves the mountains of Peru and goes down the Amazon river in search of gold and wealth. Soon, they come across great difficulties and don Lope de Aguirre, a ruthless man who cares only about riches, becomes their leader. But will his quest lead them to "the golden city", or to certain destruction?

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Plot Keywords:

el dorado | spanish | conquistador | megalomaniac | 1560s | 

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Taglines:

A breathtaking journey into the heart of darkness.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

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Goofs

In one of the final shots, as the camera circles Aguirre's raft, the camera boat's wake is visible.

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Quotes

Don Lope de Aguirre: Look what I've found for you. This animal sleeps its whole life away. It's never really awake.

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Alternate Versions

The original released version is spoken in German. The actors spoke a variety of languages on set (including English), and the lines had to be re-recorded in post-production in the final language.

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Connections

Featured in Filmstunde: Filmstunde 4 (1992)

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Soundtracks

Aguirre, Der Zorn Gottes (Lacrime Di Re)
Written by Florian Fricke
Performed by Popol Vuh
Published by Edition Intro Meisel
Courtesy of Gammarock Music

User Reviews

**** out of ****

Stunning, dreamlike film documents (in a somewhat documentary style), the story of Don Lope de Aguirre (Klaus Kinski), who leads a group of Spanish conquistadors into the depths of the jungle in search for El Dorado, the mythical city of gold. Beautiful cinematography and locations place the viewer into the heart of the jungle, where they witness firsthand Aguirre's descent into madness. Continually interesting and exciting, it features some of the greatest images ever committed to film, most notably the opening and closing shots of the movie.

Details

Country:

West Germany Mexico Peru

Language:

German Quechua Spanish

Release Date:

3 April 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aguirre, the Wrath of God

Filming Locations:

Huayna Picchu, Peru

Box Office

Budget:

$370,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$37,041

Company Credits

Production Co:

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Hessischer Rundfunk (HR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1