Written and directed by Werner Herzog, Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (Aguirre: The Wrath of God) tells the story of the travels of a crazed conquistador in search of the lost city of gold. Starring Klaus Kinski, in his first of films with Herzog, in the title role. The film is a mediation on madness and ambition through the harsh jungles of the Amazon. Shot on location in Macchu Picchu and the Peruvian jungles, the film reveals the harsh realities of nature through the eyes of a madman. Also starring Helena Rojo, Cecilia Rivera, Alejandro Repulles, Ruy Guerra, Del Negro, Peter Berling, Dany Ades, and Armando Polanah. Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes is a harrowing, psychological masterpiece from Werner Herzog.

It's the December of 1560 as a group of conquistadors, led by Bonzalo Pizarro (Alejandro Repulles), are walking down to the path of the Andes mountains after defeating the Incan empire. Hoping to return home or to a Christian sanctuary, Pizarro and his men are aware that the Indian slaves they acquired are dying and the food is becoming scarce. Pizarro lets Ursua (Ruy Guerra) in charge with Don Lope de Aguirre, second-in-command. Accompanied by Ursua’s mistress Inez (Helena Rojo), Aguirre's daughter Flores (Cecilia Rivera), a small band of Indians, a monk named Brother Gaspar de Carvajal (Del Negro), and several soldiers, Ursua and Aguirre take their group of men into the harsh rivers of the Amazon. With the rivers becoming more intense and a raft filled with seven soldiers and two oarsman stuck on an eddy, the two other rafts stop on the other side of the shore wondering what to do.

Sending one of his men, Armando (Armando Polanah), to go down river and find a crossing to the other side, Ursua hopes to save the men stuck in the eddy. The next day, six of the soldiers and an oarsmen was killed as Armando noticed that two of them are missing as on their way back, one of them was trapped and immediately killed. Ursua feels that this mission has brought nothing but bad luck but Aguirre believes that the lost city of gold known as El Dorado is somewhere in the Amazon. Wounding Ursua and taking Armando as prisoner, Aguirre takes control making Guzman (Peter Berling) the new leader as he crowns him the new Emperor of El Dorado with the hope of conquering Spain in the same way Hernando Cortez did with Mexico.

After Armando breaks himself free from his prison, a public trial was held as Guzman decides to let Ursua go but without any power and his wealth to be split among soldiers and everyone else. With Ursua on board but refusing to speak, the remaining soldiers plus Inez, Flores, and Gaspar ride on a new raft as they trek onto the treacherous rivers of the Amazon. With a horse on the raft, things become tense with food becoming scarce as Guzman feasts on everything from fish that he took after an encounter with an Indian who was killed for spitting on the Bible. Though the quiet threat of other Indians surrounding the jungle is still making everyone else uneasy, Aguirre hopes to find and rid of them. Then when a brutal murder occurs on the raft, morale becomes pretty low with Aguirre now running things as Inez chose to leave. With people dying every day due to fever or the attacks of the Indians, Aguirre moves further into the river in which he continues on this absurd, suicidal journey to find El Dorado.

Largely inspired by the famed Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness, about a journey on the Congo rivers, clearly is instilled into the mind of Werner Herzog. In many ways, the film’s themes of greed and madness is really small when being compared to what the film is really all about. Man vs. nature in which Herzog seems to have a darker, cynical view about nature. Filled with very little dialogue and focusing on the emotions of the people on the boat, the film is told in two perspectives from voice-overs. Most of the voice-over is told from the perspective of Gaspar as if he's recalling everything in his diary. The second is from Aguirre whose mind has reached beyond the depths of reality into something that is indeed, maddening.

If Herzog's minimalist script builds a momentum into the doom that's to come. It's his directing that reveals the complex world of the Am!zon jungle. While it's a world filled with beauty, there's also something sinister beneath it in its heart. Again, it comes from Heart of Darkness where Herzog explores and observes the behaviors of the characters while dealing with their complex`morale as they're riding into a suicidal journey led by this ambitious madman. It's in Herzog where the film reveals the cruelty that is in Mother Nature and how neglectful humanity is towards it.

Helping Herzog with his troubling vision is cinematographer Thomas Mauch whose hand-held camera work reveals the beauty and ugliness that is the Amazon jungle. Mauch's photography truly captures the complexity of the environment with its array of colors and light where it looks and feels like the Amazon. Editor Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus brings a stylized approach of editing with some jump-cuts and perspective cutting while adding a flow that is elliptical yet deliberate to build the momentum of the story in its madness. The sound work by Herbert Prasch is wonderfully brilliant in capturing the atmosphere and horror that is the Amazon jungle. The film's music features comical yet vibrant flute music in a scene accompanied by an Indian playing the flute. Most of the film's score is largely dominated by longtime Herzog composers Popol Vuh with their haunting, progressive-rock driven score filled with large arrangements of vocals and eerie synthesizer music.

The film’s cast is wonderfully assembled with notable small performances from Alejandro Repulles as Pizarro, Dany Ades as the irritant Perucho, and Edward Roland as the cautious black servant Okello. Cecilia Flores is excellent as Aguirre's observant daughter Flores while Armando Polanah is also good as the cautious Armando. Ruy Guerra is brilliant in his role as Ursua while Peter Berling is great as the greedy, indecisive Guzman. Helena Rojo is one of the best supporting performances as Inez, Ursua's mistress who sees nothing but trouble from the start as she is one of the film's more realistic, moral figures. Del Negro is really amazing in his role as Gaspar, a monk who has hopes to spread the word of Christ only to realize how cruel the world of nature is.

Finally, there's Klaus Kinski in what has to be one of the most terrifying and manic performances captured on film. Kinski commands every scene in the film where it's his striking blue eyes and face that really shows that it's his film and his only. Though Kinski allows himself to be restrained only when he needs to in scenes that shows his sensitivity towards his daughter. A lot of it is done with a kind of intensity to reveal the madness of his character. It's a very intimidating performance to see as Kinski drives the film to its depth of horror where he goes into this journey unaware that he's in a battle against nature. Overall, it's truly one of the most magnificent performances ever.

When Aguirre was released in late 1972 in Germany, the film received savagely negative reviews in Germany yet it became a cult classic in the years to come. Immediately, Herzog and Kinski became famous in Germany as the film in the years to come proved to be an international hit while becoming a cult hit in American art house films. The film proved to be seminal, especially to American director Francis Ford Coppola who was inspired by some of the film's themes for his own take on the Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness into his big-budget, 1979 war classic Apocalypse Now. While Aguirre continues to become a film that's beloved by foreign film fans. Even some film buffs consider Herzog's film as a companion piece to not just Apocalypse Now but also the works of Terrence Malick in terms on the differing views of nature. So in the end, if there's anyone looking for an introduction to the works of Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski. Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes is the best way to go.

Werner Herzog Reviews:

Invincible (2001):

(Coming Soon)

Grizzly Man (2005):

Coming in January 2008)

Rescue Dawn (2006):

http://www.epinions.com/content_408676961924

Herzog-Kinksi Collection:

Nosferatu, the Vampyre (1979):

http://www.epinions.com/content_301492964996

Woyzeck (1979):

http://www.epinions.com/content_303925792388

Fitzcarraldo (1982):

http://www.epinions.com/content_306266148484

Cobra Verde (1987):

http://www.epinions.com/content_310345174660

My Best Fiend (1999):

http://www.epinions.com/content_311488581252

Herzog/Kinski Box Set (2002):

http://www.epinions.com/content_313239047812

Related Review:

Burden of Dreams (1982):

http://www.epinions.com/content_307413159556



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older