Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes
West Germany • 1972
Director
Synopsis
The first of Werner Herzog’s legendary—and notoriously tempestuous—collaborations with actor Klaus Kinski is a feverish account of sixteenth-century Spanish conquistador Lope de Aguirre’s obsessive quest through the South American rainforest to discover the fabled city of gold, El Dorado, a crazed delusion that leads him and his band of explorers into the heart of darkness. Kinski’s unhinged performance, the mystical score by Popol Vuh, and the lush, hallucinatory jungle images come together in one of the most haunting, deliriously inspired visions in all of 1970s cinema, a senses-shattering journey to the edge of madness.
Synopsis
The first of Werner Herzog’s legendary—and notoriously tempestuous—collaborations with actor Klaus Kinski is a feverish account of sixteenth-century Spanish conquistador Lope de Aguirre’s obsessive quest through the South American rainforest to discover the fabled city of gold, El Dorado, a crazed delusion that leads him and his band of explorers into the heart of darkness. Kinski’s unhinged performance, the mystical score by Popol Vuh, and the lush, hallucinatory jungle images come together in one of the most haunting, deliriously inspired visions in all of 1970s cinema, a senses-shattering journey to the edge of madness.
Credits
Crew
DirectorWerner Herzog
WriterWerner Herzog
CinematographerThomas Mauch
ComposerPopol Vuh
EditorBeate Mainka-Jellinghaus
ProducerHans Prescher, Werner Herzog
Cast
Klaus Kinskias Don Lope de Aguirre
Helena Rojoas Inés de Atienza
Del Negroas Brother Gaspar de Carvajal