The legend of El Dorado, a land rich in gold, tempts Gonzalo Pizarro to lead an expedition beyond the Andes in 1560. Forced to halt, two men are sent downriver with a patrol. When their rafts are damaged, one decides to return to the camp, while Aguirre leads a mutiny and takes charge of the patrol.

A trip into the heart of darkness, Herzog’s mix of historical storytelling and documentary styling delivers an immediacy rarely found in period tales. Anchoring the brutal, bleakly farcical dissection of colonial arrogance and cruelty is Klaus Kinski’s hypnotizing madman with delusions of grandeur.