Werner Herzog's bleak masterpiece might well be the best film the auteur has ever made – a masterful movie that embodies the director's offbeat career with a perfectly realised study of madness and ultimately despair. The story itself is simple – a boatload of Spanish Conquistadors travel down the Amazon, in search of the legendary lost city of El Dorado. The realisation is something else. Herzog's close-up cameras capture every moment of the journey, focusing on the faces of the men who undergo what quickly turns into an ordeal. The film is dotted with set-pieces that impress: a raft caught swirling endlessly in a whirlpool, a boat stuck high in a tree and a visit to (and hasty retreat from) a cannibal village. However, it's the 'quiet' moments that Herzog captures so well, the hope and then stark realisation as it crosses the faces of his men.
I found this film tremendously spooky. The hostile natives are barely seen, and the characters barely notice the arrows sticking from their bodies. The cannibal village is one of the eeriest moments captured on film. But there's humour here, too, with an early 'talking severed head' gag and the final scenes that reveal Kinski's madness. The use of the baby monkeys is a wonderful idea and the film never runs out of steam, getting stronger as it goes along. The ending might be inevitable, but it's the journey that grips the viewer. You'll laugh, shake your head and even cry at the events which unfold; I found the bit with the horse particularly moving, despite the absurdity of the situation.
The film belongs to the maverick actor that is Kinski. He's perfectly cast as the unhinged Aguirre, and one of the maddest actors ever seen on film. I'd say that this was the highlight of a long and varied career. Still, the supporting cast are all great too, with nobody putting a foot wrong. The theme may be familiar from the likes of Conrad's novel HEART OF DARKNESS and Coppola's APOCALYPSE NOW, but Herzog's vision is all his own – and as a result this is one of the most unique and compelling jungle movies out there.
I found this film tremendously spooky. The hostile natives are barely seen, and the characters barely notice the arrows sticking from their bodies. The cannibal village is one of the eeriest moments captured on film. But there's humour here, too, with an early 'talking severed head' gag and the final scenes that reveal Kinski's madness. The use of the baby monkeys is a wonderful idea and the film never runs out of steam, getting stronger as it goes along. The ending might be inevitable, but it's the journey that grips the viewer. You'll laugh, shake your head and even cry at the events which unfold; I found the bit with the horse particularly moving, despite the absurdity of the situation.
The film belongs to the maverick actor that is Kinski. He's perfectly cast as the unhinged Aguirre, and one of the maddest actors ever seen on film. I'd say that this was the highlight of a long and varied career. Still, the supporting cast are all great too, with nobody putting a foot wrong. The theme may be familiar from the likes of Conrad's novel HEART OF DARKNESS and Coppola's APOCALYPSE NOW, but Herzog's vision is all his own – and as a result this is one of the most unique and compelling jungle movies out there.