As screened @ Cinemuse

Dare to dream the impossible… but at what cost?

In order to fund his dream of bringing the opera into the South American jungle, Fitzcarraldo (Klaus Kinski) looks for profitable new ways to reach the jungle’s lucrative rubber resources. But the only piece of land he can lay claim to lies on an inaccessable river which will require the herculean feat of moving a 300 ton steamer across a steeply sloped isthmus in the jungle. So with the underwriting of his lover Molly, (the beautiful Claudia Cardinale), a successful brothel owner, he buys a steamer, raises a crew and sets off.

The film has without any doubt great artistic merit. Herzog constructs several monumental scenes in this trip through the jungle. He gradually builds suspense as Fitzcarraldo and his crew progress further into the jungle and is haunted by the drumming and chanting of an invisible native tribe. A signature moment in the film has Fitzcarraldo putting his phonograph on the stern of the boat and playing Caruso, as Kinski’s demented eyes stare out in wonder, pride, fear and anticipation as the tenor shares enlightenment with the jungle’s inhabitants. Fitzcarraldo’s single mindedness is clearly a metaphor that should give us the courage to persue our dreams.

However, the question cannot be ignored, “At what cost?”. When Fitzcarraldo/ Herzog recruits hundreds of real natives to the clearly destructive task of hauling a 300 tonne boat over a jungle mountain, the metaphor inevitably becomes a bit clouded. Is Herzog aware of the ironies he presents the audience? Does the director share Fitzcarraldo’s indomitable and obsessive spirit; does Herzog really believe that art should be allowed to exact any price for its realisation? Or are we simply supposed to be awed that he actually had the natives use a crude pulley system to pull the boat over the mountain? At what point does the persuit of art become self-indulgence?

Whichever way you swing, the jury is still out regarding who qualifies as the bigger megalomaniac: Herzog or Fitzcarraldo.

Interesting facts about the film:

Klaus Kinski was a major source of tension, as he fought with Herzog and other members of the crew and greatly upset the native extras. In his documentary My Best Friend, Herzog says that one of the native chiefs offered to murder Kinski for him, but that he declined because he needed Kinski to complete filming.