Making a film is a bit of a conquistador’s expedition. You’re searching for treasure to fund your project. You’re willing to go anywhere to get that “executive producer” who cough up the gold. You put together a crew could fill a sailing ship. The act of making a movie can be very dangerous especially when you’re pulling so much power onto the set. There can be a fatality if a stunt goes wrong. Plus you have to constantly worry about the food and drinks for the cast and crew. Only a few films actually uncover a treasure known as Oscar. Nobody watching your movie has a clue how much risk you went through to mine cinematic gold. Unless you make a film such as Aguirre, The Wrath of God. Director Werner Herzog (The Client on The Mandalorian) took his cast and crew deep into the wilds of the Amazonian rain forest of Peru. And if that doesn’t sound a bit dangerous, the cast had to deal with Klaus Kinski (For A Few Dollars More). Aguirre, The Wrath of God is a next level masterpiece of cinema.
The Spanish Conquistadors led by Pizarro are deep in the Amazon looking for the Inca’s city of El Dorado that’s rumored to have streets paved with gold. The treacherous forest is too much for the force and the locals they’ve enslaved. They can’t quite get the cannons rolling along. Pizarro splits off a group of 40 men led by Don Pedro de Ursúa (Ruy Guerra) with his second in command being Don Lope de Aguirre (Klaus Kinski). The crew set off down the rough river on rafts with a cannon and a horse. They have around a month to complete their mission or they’ll be considered dead. While Ursúa is practical and compassionate, Aguirre is a pure mercenary. This plays out when a raft gets caught on the wrong side of the rapids. Ursúa wants to rescue the stranded soldiers. Aguirre wants to leave them behind. He doesn’t want to stand still and deal with natives attacking them with arrows and poisoned darts. He wants to get down to El Dorado. When Ursúa wants to return to Pizarro, Aguirre leads an uprising for those who can also smell the gold in the air. They proceed down the river in hopes of being richer than the King of Spain.
This is a true adventure film as the actors deal with the potent force of the jungle. They aren’t faking it on a studio backlot. You feel the power of the water and the dangers lurking in the rain forest. Maybe there were real natives firing poison arrows at them. Aguirre, The Wrath of God is a drama that plays like a documentary. Everyone seems in real jeopardy of not returning to civilization. Most importantly is feeling that Klaus Kinski is as mad as his character. He plays Aguirre as a twisted man who moves like a snake across the jungle. Even though his daughter (Cecilia Rivera) is part of the crew, he doesn’t soften up as he gets closer to all that gold down the river. This is one of those great performances that conquers the screen. Aguirre, The Wrath of God is a classic film that will drag you into his infectious madness.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame. The 4K transfer was taken from the original 35mm Camera negative. Having seen this film on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray, the 4K UHD looks even better. So much detail comes out from the jungle. This is the ultimate way to watch the film. Audio is 5.1 DTS- HD MA. There’s also a German 2.0 DTS-HD MA and English dub 2.0 Stereo DTS-MA. You’ll feel the madness in Kinski’s words. The movie is subtitled in English.
Blu-ray has the movie and bonus features.
Audio Commentaries included Werner Herzog doing one track in English and a second in German. He admits that the monk did exist, and he wrote a diary. But this isn’t the expedition he covered. The budget was around $340,000 so they didn’t do too many second tapes. He is interviewed during the course of the film. This was done while he was finishing up My Best Fiend about his relationship with Kinski.
Trailer (3:19) shows the scope of the adventure.
Still Gallery (5:23) has press photos, behind the scenes shots of Werner Herzog with the cast and posters.
Shout! Studios present Aguirre, The Wrath of God: Collector’s Edition. Directed by Werner Herzog. Screenplay by Werner Herzog. Starring Klaus Kinski, Helena Rojo, Del Negro, Ruy Guerra, Peter Berling, Cecilia Rivera, Dany Ades & Armando Polanah. Running Time: 95 minutes. Rating: Not Rated. Release Date: December 3, 2024.
