Aguirre, The Wrath of God (Aguirre, der zorn Gottes) A review by Joel B. Kirk
WHAT IT'S ABOUT:
It is late 1560, and an expedition led by Gonzalo Pizarro (Alejandro Repulles) has set out from the Peruvian highlands in search of El Dorado, the mythical city of gold. Faced with difficult terrain and dwindling rations, Pizarro dispatches an exploratory crew for a one week survey of the surrounding area. Pizarro tasks Don Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra) to lead the survey crew, and appoints Don Lope de Aguirre (Klaus Kinski) as second in command. Insulated from the threat of retribution from the Spanish government, Aguirre begins to subvert Ursua's authority. Aguirre dissents on the rescue of a crew aboard a raft stranded on the side of the river. He instructs the men to gather materials without Ursua's knowledge or consent. He orders the death of a soldier loyal to Ursua. However, the path to El Dorado proves to be elusive as the crew fall victim to treacherous currents, inconspicuously laden traps, and Indian attacks. Driven by the promise of wealth and conquest, Aguirre forces a mutiny when Ursua decides to retreat into the mountains.
MY TAKE:
Made for 300, 000 German marks or 175, 840.42 U.S. dollars, this movie definitely isn't for all tastes. Some may find it amusing with hidden meanings, some may find immensely boring.
Klaus Kinski (ANDROID, NOSFERATU, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE), who had an interesting life onscreen and off-screen, uses his unique look of cold bulged eyes, and stilted gait to suggest a man going crazy.
We don't find ourselves caring for the characters. (Are you really supposed to?) The crew is moved only by their greed. The two women in the film, Inez and Flores, the slave Okello, and the Padre, seem to be bystanders watching the sanity wither away from the expedition.
In the end, the two women (the two most innocent of the expedition) have perished, while Okello (saved due to his skin color that the conquistadors wanted to exploit to 'scare' the Indians?) the Padre (holding on to dear life, as he was pierced by an arrow) and Aguirre (still holding on to dreams of conquest) head for an uncertain outcome.
POSITIVE/NEGATIVE NITPICKS:
For the everyday filmgoer, it may not be clear who the characters are. People seemingly die off without real explanation (although, it becomes clear their death is a result of the people they attempt to conquer). Given the fact that Herzog is a legendary director, this unfortunately may be forgiven.
We pretty much learn about Aguirre, himself selfish and indeed descending into madness (if not already mad), with no hesitation to kill any man under his leadership if one were to speak of desertion. (In one scene one of the deserters finishes a sentence AFTER his head has been decapitated). Aguirre says he is ‘the wrath of God,' blinded by power and riches. In the end, we are not surprised at his fate.
FINAL COMMENTS:
Basically, it is a film one really have to keep an eye on to understand-although, if familiar with history between the Indians and Spanish (basically how Latin America came to be), one could look at this film as a morality play: The Indians who were to have been conquered, have conquered those who believed themselves to be Gods, those who thought themselves to be too powerful, those outsmarted by those who take life a little less for granted.
MY RATING:
***1/2 out of *****
WRITTEN: Werner Herzog
DIRECTED: Werner Herzog
CAST: Klaus Kinski-Don Lope de Aguirre Peter Berling-Don Fernando de Guzman Roy Guerra-Don Pedro de Ursua Del Negro-Brother Gaspar de Carvajal Alejandro Repulles-Gonzalo Pizarro Cecilia Rivera-Inez Edward Roland-Okello
GENRE: Drama
RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1977 by New Yorker Films
EMAIL: joelkirk@sbcglobal.net
Copyright 2003 Joel B. Kirk
========== X-RAMR-ID: 36229 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1214727 X-RT-TitleID: 1000502 X-RT-AuthorID: 9404 X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/5
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