Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.
Following the post-war turmoil and the events leading to the Cold War that separated the country into East-West factions, Germany became a country that was losing its identity. Especially in the German film industry where in the early 60s, a new wave of German filmmakers emerged that would begin the German New Wave. Three of those new filmmakers would emerge that would gain international acclaim. The first was the controversial yet theatrical Rainier Werner Fassbinder. The second was the worldly Wim Wenders and the third was an ambitious yet unconventional director whose view of nature differed than most of his contemporaries. His name was Werner Herzog. Following films he made in the 1960s through the early 70s in both features and documentary, Herzog was still trying to gain attention until 1972, he would make a huge breakthrough in which he began the first of five collaborations with German actor Klaus Kinski.
Kinski by the early 70s was already a star of sorts appearing in films like David Lean's Dr. Zhivago and two Spaghetti westerns like Sergio Leone's For a Few Dollars More and Sergio Corbucci's The Great Silence with French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant. In meeting Herzog, the two men would create a collaboration that was passionate and volatile than any other as the duo would go on to create five amazing features from 1972-1987. Films like Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes, Nosferartu, Phantom der Nacht, Woyzeck, Fitzcarraldo, and Cobra Verde all before Kinski's death in 1991. In 1999, Herzog made one more film about Kinski called Mein Liebster Fiend in the documentary form. Despite the chaos that came out of those collaborations, the films that they made were legendary as in 2002, Anchor Bay created and release a six-disc box set called the Herzog/Kinski Collection which featured all of the films they made together as well as Mein Liebster Fiend.
Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (Aguirre: The Wrath of God):
Written and directed by Herzog and starring Kinski, Aguirre is truly one of the greatest films ever made from that decade and an essential film of the German New Wave. Shot entirely in Amazon rivers with parts of Macchu Picchu and the Peruvian mountains, this is a film that would be a great companion to Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War-masterpiece Apocalypse Now in terms of its psychology and madness while both films tells the story of a trip into the dark rivers at the heart of a jungle gone terribly wrong. Unlike Coppola's big-budget film, Aguirre was shot for $370,000 with a small crew as Herzog captures the complex beauty and ugliness of the Amazon. The tale of a mad conquistador leading a group of soldiers, Indians, two women, and a monk on a suicidal trip to find the lost city of gold known as El Dorado is a harrowing yet entrancing film of man vs. nature. With some great camera work by Thomas Mauch and the haunting score of Popol Vuh, the film is largely dominated by Kinski's manic performance and it's truly one of the greatest films ever made.
The DVD presents the film in its original, full-screen presentation ratio of 1:33:1 and 5.1. Dolby Digital Surround Sound for its original German language and Mono for the English dub. The DVD includes a theatrical trailer in both English and German along with the talent bios of Herzog and Kinski. The big special feature is a full audio commentary track from Herzog and Norman Hill. The commentary track is truly one of the most enjoyable as Herzog reflects on making the film while discussing its psychology and his views on nature. Herzog reveals that the camera he and Thomas Mauch used was a 35mm camera Herzog stole when he was in film school that he used in 9 films. Herzog admits that there wasn't much of a script written nor a lot of ideas were planned. He doesn't storyboard so everything was improvised. Herzog also discussed Kinski where at times, he can be sensitive and sweet but then, he has a side that's very unpredictable to the point that he almost killed an actor during filming. The commentary overall is insightful to the process of filmmaking and Herzog's own unique talents.
Rating: *****/*****
Nosferatu, Phantom der Nacht (Nosferatu, the Vampyre):
In this remake of the famous story of Dracula by Bram Stoker that was made famous in 1922 by director F.W. Murnau with Max Schrek as Dracula. Herzog creates a new version of Dracula with Kinski in the title role along with French actress Isabelle Adjani and German actor Bruno Ganz in the film as Lucy and Jonathan Harker, respectively. While not an entirely faithful version of the story, Herzog still brings a sense of intelligence and atmosphere to the story thanks in large parts to Kinski's restrained yet ominous performance with Adjani doing excellent work in conveying the sense of horror. With excellent supporting work from Ganz, Roland Topor as Renfield, and Walter Ladengast as Van Helsing, it's really one of the entertaining yet smart film versions of Dracula.
The DVD presents the film in the widescreen format of 1:85:1 ratio for 16x9 TV screens plus 5.1. and 2.0 Dolby Digital Surround Sound in German with English subtitles. The DVD version of the box set is the film's German version which is considered superior to the English version of the film (which is also available, seperately, on DVD). The special features include two U.S. trailers (one with voiceover), a Spanish trailer, the talent bios of Herzog and Kinski, and a 13-minute making-of featurette. The making-of segment is presented by the film's original distributor, 20th Century Fox as Herzog talks in English about Nosferatu where he said the 1922 Murnau version was the greatest film in German history. The making-of reveals the actors performing in English (he also shot them in German, since Herzog, Ganz, and Kinski are German) while directing several sequences in the Delft area of Holland. It's one of the more insightful featurettes into how Herzog works, including his moments with Kinski, while Kinski is shown putting on the makeup of Dracula.
The second special feature is a commentary track from Herzog and Norman Hill. Herzog discusses about wanting to remake Murnau's version but adding new things with some shots in tribute to the original film. He discussed Kinski's notorious behavior which was difficult to handle as well as many of the actors' uncomfort in speaking in English for the film's U.S. version given their thick native accents. Herzog discusses with Hill about maintaining an atmosphere for the film where he admitted to having a few problems with the American distributors at 20th Century Fox as well as casting issues since Herzog was using then-unknown European actors. Herzog admits to making compromises for American audiences to the film though he didn't think it was a big deal while giving his own opinion on Francis Ford Coppola's version of Dracula. One enjoyable part of the commentary is Herzog talking about how the rats were shipped from Germany, through Austria and to Holland where he revealed a very funny story about the rats going through custom.
Made five days after completing Nosferatu, Herzog's adaptation of the Georg Bruchner play reveals more of Kinski's range as an actor playing the title of role of Woyzeck that he performed in a play several years before. The shortest film in the set at a running time of 80 minutes, Woyzeck is still one of the best films that reveals the talents of Herzog and Kinski. Since it's based on a play, the film is truly a theatrical film set in the early 1800s as Kinski plays a soldier who is being abused against his will by a doctor, a captain, and his unfaithful wife while taking part in humilating experiments of morality and humanity by his captain and doctor, respectively. Herzog's approach to maintain a theatricality reveals his sense of study and observation while the star of the film is truly Kinski in his most controlled, emotional performance. Also worth noting is Eva Mattes as Kinski's unfaithful wife who also goes through a struggle of morality as Mattes truly stands out in a performance that won her the Supporting Actress prize at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival.
The DVD doesn't include a lot of features rather than a trailer and talent bios for Herzog and Kinski. The DVD is presented in the widescreen presentation of 1:85:1 ratio for 16x9 TVs with Dolby Digital and Mono sound for German with English subtitles. The essay in the box set booklet by Jim Knipfel reveals that the film was shot in 18 days while edited in four days in its final cut with only 27 cuts made. While the film was considered to be one of Herzog's easiest shoots, Kinski however, pushed himself to bring the pain of the character so badly, some said he never recovered.
Probably one of the greatest films ever made, Fitzcarraldo tells the story of an opera-loving man whose dreams of bringing the opera to the small, poor town of Iquitos, Peru goes to the Amazon to exploit an unclaimed plot of land. He takes a steamboat with a crew where he befriends a tribe while doing the impossible in dragging a steamboat on top of a mountain to get to the other side of the river. With wonderful cinematography by Thomas Mauch and the atmospheric, operatic score of Popol Vuh with a soundtrack of opera music, this is truly the best film of the entire set with Kinski delivering probably his most innocent and emotional performance. The film also features memorable supporting performances from Claudia Cardinale, Jose Lewgoy, Paul Hittscher, Huerequeque Enrique Bohorquez, and Miguel Angel Fuentes.
The DVD presents the film in the widescreen format of 1:85:1 ratio for 16x9 TVs along with 5.1 Dolby Digital and Surround Sound for both German and English with English subtitles. The special features includes the film's theatrical trailer in German plus the talent bios of Herzog, Kinski, and the music group Popol Vuh, and a still gallery featuring promotional shots, behind-the-scenes photos, and posters. The audio commentary track from Herzog, Norman Hill, and producer Lucki Stipetic is one of the most sobering commentaries into the making of the film which was notorious and revealed more deeply in Les Blank's 1982 documentary Burden of Dreams.
Herzog downplays the film's notorious troubles while admitting to some of the infamous ongoings. At one point, his cinematographer Thomas Mauch injured his hand during the shooting of the boat in the rapids due to the boat's collision with the rocks. In that same sequence, a cameraman, shooting from the bank of river was left out and angry at Herzog for being left behind. Herzog talks about his trouble with Kinski during the shoot since Kinski would often freak out in scenes with animals or anything that was going on during the shoot and Herzog had a hard time to calm him down. Herzog gives praise to Claudia Cardinale for being one of the few to calm down Kinski and making him smile on camera. It's one of the best commentaries that reveals the troubled nature and accusations Herzog had received during the film.
The fifth and final collaboration between Herzog and Kinski about a crazed, Brazilian bandit who is sent to Africa to re-open a slave trade for a plantation owner, only to realize he's part of a revenge scheme in an attempt to re-open a slave trade in West Africa. Despite some wonderful locations and several scenes, the film doesn't as interesting as previous collaborations. While the film has an interesting story of a bandit trying to re-open a slave trade and battle a king with topless, savage women, Herzog seems less interested in the story and ends up becoming interested in the humiliating Kinski in a few scenes. Kinski reveals a bit more of his crazy side while having an intimidating presence yet it's unclear whether he's acting or he's just losing it. Overall, it's a fine film but largely the weakest of the entire series.
The DVD presents the film in a different widescreen presentation of 1:77:1 ration for 16x9 TVs with 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound in German and Mono for English plus English subtitles. With special features including talent bios for Kinski and Herzog and a theatrical trailer, there's also another commentary track from Herzog and Norman Hill. This time around, Herzog reveals the frustration of making the film with Kinski. The film's original cinematographer Thomas Mauch, who shot Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo, quit after five days due to Kinski's behavior where Herzog admits, letting him go was one of the worst things he's done. While Herzog watches and enjoys a few moments, most of the time, he seems troubled in watching the film since he admits, it's not one of his favorites. He was inspired to do the film because of novelist Bruce Chatwin where Herzog did another film, 1984's Where the Green Ants Dream, that was inspired by Chatwin. Though Herzog admits in trying to be faithful to Chatwin, who did like the film in the end before his death in 1989, Herzog still admits frustration largely due to Kinski.
Mentioned the commentary and accompanying essay by Jim Knipfel, Kinski was on the verge of making a film about Paganini which Kinski wrote, directed, and starred in and originally wanted Herzog to direct it. Herzog talks about Kinski bringing an atmosphere that really disturbed him and the film's final scene was the last thing they shot as Herzog comments that by this point, it was over and he wanted to work with Kinski no more. On November 23, 1991, Klaus Kinski died of a heart attack in Northern California at the age of 65.
The sixth and final film in the box set is a 1999 documentary, originally made for European TV about Herzog discussing his love-hate collaboration with Kinski. The documentary is a sobering, intriguing film about Herzog's love-hate relationship with Kinski in the five feature films they've made. Featuring interviews from actresses Claudia Cardinale and Eva Mattes who both revealed some positive memories about Kinski, most of the film reveal Kinski's egomania and wanting to be the center of attention. Though Herzog doesn't try to portray him totally as a man who is out of control by showing him some tender, sensitive moments. Herzog reveals how hard it is since everything from Kinski's biography to the footage revealed in the making of Fitzcarraldo where there's a scene of Kinski having a fierce argument with production manager Walter Saxer. It's an amazing documentary that's a bit flawed but true to what Herzog tries to say about Kinski despite some hatred towards him.
The DVD is presented in a widescreen presentation of 1:77:1 aspect ratio for 16x9 TV since it was originally made for European TV with help from IFC for a limited theatrical release. The language in both English and German 2.0 Dolby Surround Sound with English subtitles, the DVD's only special feature is the theatrical trailer. There's no commentary needed since Herzog narrates in parts of the documentary. The essay by Michael Felsher doesn't reveal much that the documentary has covered other than a viewpoint from the essayist about the film.
Rating: ****1/2 /*****
The box set features a little excerpt from longtime Herzog supporter and film critic Roger Ebert about the infamous collaboration between the two actors. Each disc is packed in a thin, plastic case featuring international posters of the film and color coded. With a booklet inside the box that includes an introduction with a quote from Herzog and essays for each film by Jim Knipfel, Cliff MacMillan, Michael Felsher, and Herzog in a conversation with Laurens Staub. This box set is truly one of the must-have for any fan of international cinema while it's a great starting point into the works of Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski. It should also be noted that if you were going to put an actor-director duo in a ring, Herzog and Kinski would probably win. Even against the likes of John Ford/John Wayne and Martin Scorsese/Robert de Niro, Kinski would actually kill them. In the end, pick up this great box set chronicling the collaboration of Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski.
Adventure Drama DVD - Just as interesting as the films of Werner Herzog are the legendary tales that have grown out of the director's relationship wit...More at Barnes and Noble
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