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As big a cult following as Werner Herzog’s Aguirre, the Wrath of God has gathered through the years and as high as its reputation has soared, no words can prepare audiences for their first viewing. Perhaps, this is because the movie is itself of few words. It’s a film about moods, atmosphere, and the jungle is left to do most of the important talking. The easiest things to point out in this most unusual opus are that it’s a superb mystic film, rich in mystery and legend.
Unlike most other great works, however, Aguirre, the Wrath of God is largely a director’s film. Dialogue and performances, though certainly not deficient or dismissible, are of secondary significance. What matters most in the film is the theme and how the images, sounds, and atmosphere communicate that theme.
The film’s success in this regard rode largely on Herzog’s reliance on the jungle backdrop. It’s a place with real dangers and those ignorant of the fact had better turn back. Herzog doesn’t go overboard with costumes, their accuracy being sufficient. There are also no glossy location shots that would become a staple within less than a decade for filmmakers granted such budgets. In this film, Herzog’s only aim was realism and it’s this realism that brings a sense of dread as we watched the doomed mission proceed down a mountain and then on their fateful voyage down the river. It’s the work of a director destined to become a documentarian some day.
Werner Herzog has always been fascinated by man’s foolhardy attempt to conquer nature. It has since become a lifelong obsession whether his subject is Timothy Treadwell or Gonzalo Pizarro, who in 1560 sent a team of conquistadors deep into the Peruvian jungle in search of the mythical city of El Dorado. Though not officially a documentary, in chronicling this story Aguirre, the Wrath of God was made with the same passion and pride in accuracy as Encounters at the End of the World.
Thematically, Aguirre, the Wrath of God is a film of many focuses. Herzog examines the Spaniards’ attitude toward the indigenous people of the forest and the forcing of Westernization, which led to the extinction of many native languages and customs. But the main point of the film is how greed and arrogance blinded Don Aguirre (Klaus Kinski) and his men to the dangers inherit in trying to conquer a new land. They assumed God to be on their side, a mentality that has brought much destruction and war throughout history. Ironically, it is the mission’s priest, Brother Carvajal (Del Negro), who also chronicles the journey in his diary, who remains the most rational member of the expedition.
After establishing the members of the crew and the journey is under way, Herzog steps back a little and allows the camera to talk on his behalf. The shots that follow are collective works of genius. There are many long stretches of nothing but silence expect for the sounds of the forest. It is, after all, nature’s domain and not that of man.
Who could ever forget the shot of the raft carrying corpses drifting down the river? It’s a haunting shot in itself, but what’s truly remarkable is that it raises as many questions as the story of the lost colony of Roanoke. Were these men killed during a native ambush or was it sabotage from within? Whatever killed those men, there is no question that the jungle is mobilizing against the conquistadors and will eventually consume them all. But the increasingly psychotic Aguirre is oblivious to the fact that division will expedite the rate at which they will perish and so splinters off to his doom.
If there is a performance that deserves equal billing with the cinematography in Aguirre, the Wrath of God it’s Klaus Kinski, who’s friendship with Werner Herzog goes back to his youth as a struggling actor and was tested to the limit during the arduous shoot of this film. What a face that man has. He exudes madness with just a glance. Aguirre seems like a dangerous megalomaniac from the start, waiting for the right opportunity to seize control. A particularly effective shot has Aguirre (the man who should be locked up) on the outside looking in at the incarcerated Ursua (Ruy Guerra). Seeing Aguirre against the bars of the cage it is easy to understand what he has become after losing his human instinct, a ravaging beast of the jungle.
The indigenous people are the only humans around to know better than to lose their humility before nature. They have lived in harmony with the land for thousands of years, surviving floods and hurricanes. But they could not survive annihilation by the Spaniards and the diseases they brought. Now the tables have turned and the Spaniards are the ones who are trapped by a world they don’t understand.
Given the limited dialogue, traditional storytelling devices, and narrative in general, the fact that Aguirre, the Wrath of God worked at all is astounding. That it is an artistic triumph is a miracle. Rarely has each shot or each artistic device been used so tactfully by a director. Consider the scene in which Aguirre’s party leads their man-made shelter downstream. The soundtrack stops to parallel the eerie silence heard by the travelers. What dangers or attackers are using this silence as cover? Breaking the silence are the galloping hooves of the horse aboard the raft. What spooked the animal? None of the men will know for sure. What follows is a hallucinatory sequence with the conquistadors driven insane by starvation and diseases, no longer capable of recognizing reality or imagination.
In a haunting close-up, Aguirre stares at the terrified horse as the raft sails past the animal after it’s been thrown overboard. He realizes that animals, through instinct, are smarter than humans when it comes to recognizing danger. The horse could tell it was time to turn back and now it may be too late for Aguirre to do so.
As striking as such individual moments are, Aguirre, the Wrath of God has a cumulative effect. It’s more like an experience that develops inside as we watch the hopeless conquistadors sail downriver. The film’s power is all of one piece, formed by moments of fear, shock, and despair. In the end, we can see that Don Aguirre did not represent the wrath of God but, rather, had the wrath of God cast upon him. Nature ends by taking what was rightfully hers.

Official Review on my site

I am the wrath of God. Who else is with me?

As Don Lope de Aguirre, played by Klaus Kinski, mutters these words the audience is shown an honest depiction of rage and madness, when the prize on the other end was rumored to be the lost city of El Dorado, composed purely of gold. The film follows an expedition through the amazon of Peru as the Spanish Conquistador attempts to discover what has been long labeled as a myth.

The journey brought promises of treasures, a new empire and riches for everyone who helped with the discovery. However, none of the above came into fruition. What did materialize were hundreds of deaths, mutinies, starvation and hallucinations. Aguirre, usually referred to as a madman, let his pride and foolish lust for power overtake his senses as he stopped at nothing, bringing upon the deaths of everyone on the expedition, to achieve the unachievable. Yet, his fantasies were real to him, and no one was to tell him otherwise.

Werner Herzog has claimed his affinity for blending the lines between history and artifice. That is, he does not rely on facts to convey truth, but rather on art to metaphorically serve his purposes. This applies directly to Aguirre: The Wrath of God. More than half of the film consists of not only the actual characters, but also the film crew amidst a ferocious yet sometimes eerily calming river, giving the audience a true taste of what it means to be stranded for days on end without much food or safe water. It is within these images in which we find the inspiration Francis Ford Coppola drew from in crafting Apocalypse Now (1979) as both films rely heavily on sequences shot on water amidst a dangerous forest which swallows its prey by the dozens, yet the enemy remains hidden at all times.

Now, we are left to ask what may be labeled as history and what as art? For the most part, Herzog has proclaimed in not paying too much attention to a prevalent historical roadmap, rather an emotional one. He concentrated on portraying Aguirre as viciously as possible, having much help in casting Kinski who has a haunting gaze not easily matched. The last scene in particular, where he is the sole survivor on the raft proves to be most visually stunning and haunting. Hundreds upon hundreds of monkeys run through Aguirre’s feet and body as they shift throughout the raft, making their home on the water. The rest of his men have all fallen ill or suffered uncountable hallucinations due to the harsh conditions. However, Aguirre remains standing.

The madness of the setting does not get to him, perhaps because he has been mad all along. While the rest of the men are long gone, the monkeys remain prevalent passengers on the raft, symbolizing the degression in evolution the men have experienced as the journey transformed them from sane creatures to incoherent children. Herzog even makes a point in saying the film is based off the only known diary of the expedition, belonging to Brother Gaspar de Carvajal, yet the priest was never on the expedition, however experienced a different journey hundreds of years prior. It is with instances such as these that Werner Herzog prioritizes the crafting of his film within a reliance on art, as opposed to facts.

Thank you for reading,
Omar Antonio Iturriaga

(Sunday, March 14, 2010 7:30pm)

First of all, Werner Herzog’s “Aguirre, The Wrath Of God,” is not only a masterpiece but also an essential film. Secondly, the expedition of Aguirre and his men was an illusion, therefore all the aspects throughout this film made me a pessimist. I saw anger, hatred, greediness, etc. that covered the whole voyage very difficult for Aguirre and his men to grasp. Misfortune was on Aguirre’s side because of selfishness. There was an important scene where an Indian slave was playing the bamboo flute and Aguirre was staring down at him, not caring whatever comes in his way and embracing everything around him, which I personally think, symbolizes courage and insanity. Another great scene was when the black slave, the emperor, and the pilgrim were talking about their goals and what they have to achieve on the journey after everything is settled. The slave was to be free, the emperor was to seize gold, and the pilgrim was to spread the words of God. It amazes me how clearly each person see what’s ahead of them but could not foresee the certainty of death. Herzog created a surreal haunting film and an eerie image of an insane man.

De lo mejor de los años 70. Completamente distinta a los canones comunes del cine epico hollywodense, la historia de Aguirre es narrada por Werner Herzog en un estilo minimista y contemplativo que, sin duda, no es apto para aquellos que esperen ver una superproduccion tipo Apocalypto o pendejadas similares. Destacable, como siempre, la segura mano de Herzog en la direccion de actores, sobresaliendo, claro, otra soberbia y enloquecida interpretacion de Klaus Kinski en el rol principal. A diferencia de muchos actores que suelen casarse con un unico estilo de actuacion despues de x pelicula (casos concretos: Jack Nicholson, un gran actor, si, pero siempre el mismo despues de One flew over the cuckoo’s nest, Mel Gibson, siempre el mismo cliche despues de Lethal Weapon, etc.) Kinski siempre procuraba ofrecer una personificacion diferente en cada uno de sus roles, y en el caso de este Lope de Aguirre, a pesar de ser una actuacion sabrosamente demencial, como solo Klaus Kinski podia hacerla, no se siente nunca como una sobreactuacion. (Legendaria era la obsesion del actor por meterse en la piel de sus personajes, y los grandisimos desmadres que causaba con ello al resto de la produccion, pero esto es harina de otro costal.) Destaca tambien en el film la participacion de Helena Rojo (bellisima) y del director Ruy Guerra como Pedro de Urzua, la contraparte de Aguirre. Soberbio el muy logrado y verosimil diseño de produccion, algo a tomar en cuenta pensando que se trata de una produccion con un presupuesto relativamente modesto (poco menos de 300 mil dolares), y, por supuesto, la logradisima banda sonora a cargo de Popol Vuh, una colaboracion habitual en los filmes de Herzog. La musica esta sencillamente de poca madre. Un anuncio gratis: si tienen oportunidad, traten de ver la version en DVD en formato PAL que distribuye en España Manga Films. Yo siempre he dicho que el doblaje a otro idioma distinto al original en una pelicula suele ser una mierda, pero en este raro caso, escuchar los dialogos en castellano, ademas de parecer mas adecuado para los personajes del film, que, obviamente, se supone que son españoles, sin dudas esta muy bien logrado. Es natural: la imposicion Franquista (que permanece hasta nuestros dias, para disgusto de las audiencias puristas) hace que en España todas, o sea, TODAS las peliculas que son exhibidas en ese pais, sean dobladas al español, lo que ha contribuido que los españoles se hayan convertido en unos verdaderos maestros del doblaje, y este sea un elemento crucial en la comercializacion de una pelicula por esos lares.

What a nothing film! Aside from a few things/moments, I found nothing special in this film. There are few directors who make me say to myself “I don’t think he’s gonna be my thing” but I think Herzog is going to be one of those directors. Although I’d like to see one of his doco’s to see if it’s maybe just his fiction films I don’t enjoy. I didn’t particularly even want to see this film but did because of it’s high praise. I didn’t like the the visual look of the film either. It felt like I was watching a doco. Although I’m sure someone will tell me that’s exactly what I was meant to feel like. Even so, this film did nothing for me.

Un primigènit Herzog que deixa de banda les seves tendències com a cineasta experimental i comença a fusionar un viatge total al defalliment i la follia amb l´itinerant mite de “El Dorado” com a utopia de l´ambició i la decadència en un film metafísic, sobrehumà i que es va notar fora de les càmares, i d´això se´n fa justicia en l´escnea inicial quan davallen de les muntanyes mentre cau la boira. La bogeria de Kinski es present com a actor del mètode i les intencions de Herzog per igual. L´un fet per l´altre en un film que no necessita elements èpics sinó una reflexió,intensa i escenaris naturals per acabar-ho d´adobar..