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:

On this river, God never finished his creation.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the director's commentary, Werner Herzog occasionally had to trade his wristwatch or boots for food during filming.

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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

Gonzalo Pizarro: On on expeditions, the Word of God must be brought to the heathen.

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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 Incident at Loch Ness (2004)

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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

Finally, After 30 or So Years, I've Finally Seen This Masterpiece.

I've been aware of "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" for some time. For one reason or another I just never had the time to watch it. I think my apprehension was simply the fact that having "God" in the title was enough to turn me away as I despise preachy religious films which, in the end, turns out to be nothing but propaganda to fill the church's pews. Happily, "Aguirre" is not that kind of film, not even close.

Despite its relatively low budget, and with a stolen 35mm camera to boot (!), the lush Amazon scenery was astounding to behold. You could practically feel the chill of the winds through the trees, the unnameable insects buzzing in your ears, the scent of the violent and deadly rapids churning around you, and the palpable desperation of everyone on screen. Who needs CGI when you can have real monkeys to annoy you up close? Shame on me for waiting so long to cast my gaze on this masterpiece. To make up for lost time, I hereby promise to see as many more Herzog/Kinski collaborations as I can muster.

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