IMDb > Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Fitzcarraldo
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Fitzcarraldo (1982) More at IMDbPro »

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Fitzcarraldo (1982) -- The story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man who intends to build an opera house in the middle of the Peruvian jungle.

Overview

User Rating:
8.0/10   8,630 votes
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Up 16% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
Werner Herzog (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Fitzcarraldo on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
10 October 1982 (USA) more
Genre:
Plot:
The story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man who intends to build an opera house in the middle of the Peruvian jungle. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(13 articles)
Herzog to Head Berlin Film Festival
 (From The Wrap. 19 November 2009, 10:26 AM, PST)

Werner Herzog: The Movieline Interview
 (From Movieline. 18 November 2009, 7:00 AM, PST)

User Comments:
An eccentric visionary brings opera to the jungle more (66 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Klaus Kinski ... Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald - 'Fitzcarraldo'

Claudia Cardinale ... Molly

José Lewgoy ... Don Aquilino
Miguel Ángel Fuentes ... Cholo
Paul Hittscher ... Captain (Orinoco Paul)
Huerequeque Enrique Bohorquez ... Huerequeque (The Cook) (as Huerequeque Enrique Bohórquez)
Grande Otelo ... Station master (as Grande Othelo)
Peter Berling ... Opera Manager
David Pérez Espinosa ... Chief of Campa Indians
Milton Nascimento ... Blackman At Opera House
Ruy Polanah ... Rubber Baron
Salvador Godínez ... Old Missionary
Dieter Milz ... Young Missionary
William Rose ... Notary (as Bill Rose)
Leoncio Bueno
more
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Additional Details

Runtime:
158 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
A real 340 ton steam ship was moved over the mountain with a bulldozer without the use of special effects. more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: During one of the boat drifting scenes, crew members can be seen at the top of the boat, including a man wearing jeans who tries to avoid being spotted by the camera. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Film Geek (2005) more
Soundtrack:
Opera in Manaos more

FAQ

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84 out of 98 people found the following comment useful.
An eccentric visionary brings opera to the jungle, 24 April 2005
10/10
Author: Brandt Sponseller from New York City

Based on a historic figure, this is the story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (Klaus Kinski), known as "Fitzcarraldo", an eccentric visionary living in Amazonia. He first tried building a Trans-Andean Railroad, but went bankrupt. When we meet him, he's trying to make a living by selling ice to Amazonia natives, although we first see him on a small boat with his sometimes significant other, Molly (Claudia Cardinale). They've traveled 1200 miles down the Amazon to an opera house to hear Enrico Caruso sing, because Fitzcarraldo is an opera fanatic who especially loves Caruso. He loves opera so much that he dreams of building an opera house in the relatively remote outpost of Iquitos, Peru, where he's been living. Understandably unable to find backers for such a venture among Iquitos' wealthy rubber industry leaders, Fitzcarraldo hits upon a scheme for making a bundle of money, and which would eventually enable him to fund the opera house himself. Unfortunately, not all goes as planned.

Fitzcarraldo was a notoriously difficult film to make. Documentarian Les Blank even made his own film detailing some of the difficulties and apparent ironies, The Burden of Dreams (1982). Director Werner Herzog hauled his cast and crew to Amazonia for the shoot, where they ended up trapped in the rain forest for months. At one point the filmmakers' camp was set fire by Indians who objected to the production, there was an air crash in which some of the crew died, and a couple outrageous "stunts" in the film--including the main plot device of the climax--actually were outrageous, dangerous tasks rather than safe effects/model shots, as we'd expect them to be. Just the idea of pulling off the main stunt caused the Brazilian engineer initially associated with the project to abandon involvement. A number of cast members also backed out, including Mick Jagger and Jason Robards, who were both signed on at different points to play Kinski's role. Knowledge of these kinds of issues makes Fitzcarraldo even more fun to watch, and makes the fact that it was completed at all, not to mention that it is such an elegant masterpiece, more remarkable.

The tone of Fitzcarraldo overall closely matches Kinski's depiction of titular character. It is quirky and surreal, but very subtly yet satisfyingly so, with both an almost garish bizarreness (Kinski is quite odd looking in a way) balanced with a sublime beauty. Herzog imbues the film with a lot of gorgeous cinematography, enhanced by his unique sense of pacing. For example, he'll set the mood of a dawn/dusk scene with a lingering shot of a colorful sky, which then functions as symbolic of a night's events without directly showing them. Herzog matches this same technique in his action--he has an ability to say as much with what he doesn't show his actors doing (or saying) as with more conspicuous content.

Herzog also shows himself to be a master of selecting music to enhance mood and tell a story, as he balances an atmospheric Brian Eno-ish score from Popol Vuh, native jungle music, and vintage turn or the century recordings of Caruso singing Bellini, Verdi, Puccini and such. Of course opera is an important plot device that enters the film at various critical points. Even if you don't like opera, however, Herzog and Kinski make it (and the motivation for it) attractive in context, and you may just find this film beginning to turn around your feelings for that music.

It's interesting to note that even with Herzog's unusual pacing, the flow of the film always seems "natural". Fitzcarraldo also has an unusual plot structure, as it almost stream-of-consciously moves from opera in a formal European-seeming setting to a historical dramatic depiction of eccentrics in a native-filled Peruvian town, and then to an exciting adventure tale that is the heart of the film before it finally reaches an irony-filled, beautifully surreal dénouement. The constant throughout all of this is Fitzcarraldo, of course, who can't help being eccentric but charming, both to the film's audience and to other characters.

Fitzcarraldo is often interpreted as being somewhat critical of western encroachment on other cultures, such as Amazonia. Under this view, Herzog is usually seen as ironically "guilty" of the same actions that he's indicting. However, the film does not read as criticism to me. It's much more in line with what is usually considered to be a romantic tendency in Herzog. Fitzcarraldo is not at all a villain in the film, and neither are the European rubber barons. Instead, Fitzcarraldo is lovable and admirable if a bit crazy. The introduction of western culture doesn't end up being a negative. The natives in the film still retain their unique identities, and efforts are made to interact with them in their manner, not to adapt them to Eurocentrism. Cultural change may be inevitable with interaction, but the message of Fitzcarraldo is more that the interaction can produce unique, worthwhile cultures that are amalgamations of their precursors.

Another interesting subtext is that of Fitzcarraldo as Orpheus. Just as Orpheus enchanted wild beasts, trees and rocks on Mount Olympus with his lyre, causing them to "move from their places", Fitzcarraldo uses opera to enchant the natural world in which he is ensconced, eventually "moving mountains".

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