Aguirre, the Wrath of God

Once seen, never forgotten, this hallucinatory epic of unhinged Spanish conquistadors lost in the Amazon is the definitive Werner Herzog expedition to the edge.  It was also the first of his five fiery collaborations with the unpredictable force-of-nature known as Klaus Kinski. Drawing on a number of historical accounts, Aguirre, the Wrath of God traces the escalating paranoia and grandiose delusions of the mutinous, power-hungry 16th century Spanish military leader Don Lope de Aguirre (Kinski, in perhaps his maddest, most delightfully demonic performance) as he and his captive, ever-diminishing crew raft down an Amazonian river in a doomed, increasingly surreal search for El Dorado, the legendary city of gold. From its gorgeous opening images of conquistadors snaking their way through the jungle, propelled by the haunting music score by Popol Vuh, to its bizarre and staggering final scene, Herzog’s crazed epic achieves a rare, operatic delirium, made all the more compelling by its jolts of unexpected black humor, offering up an unforgettable portrait of madness and power. (Dir. by Werner Herzog, 1972, Germany, in German/Quechua/Spanish with subtitles, 93 mins., Not Rated)