55
Metascore
5 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The New RepublicStanley KauffmannThe New RepublicStanley KauffmannIt is too weak to say that Herzog disregards conventions of narrative structure and editing: he is there to punish us for attending his film and to make us enjoy it. Other directors have at times made masochists of us: Herzog excels at this, and he doesn't often do it more stunningly than in Cobra Verde.
- 75TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghLinear storytelling was never Herzog's strong suit even under the best of conditions. His strength lies in capturing lucid lunacy on film, and Manoel da Silva's descent into the jaws of madness is a straight shot into the heart of darkness, a place familiar to both Herzog and Kinski.
- 50Village VoiceVillage VoiceIt's easy to understand why this was Herzog's final collaboration with the actor (reportedly the director afterward claimed that Kinski had "become uncontrollable") but Kinski's performance nevertheless serves up a potent confusion of documentary and fiction that has long been an essential element of Herzog's filmmaking.
- 50The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottConnoisseurs of craziness need wait no longer. Cobra Verde opens today in all its feral, baffling glory. Along with "Aguirre" and "Fitzcarraldo," Cobra Verde completes a trilogy of mayhem and megalomania in hot climates.
- 30Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesChicago ReaderJ.R. JonesVerde is too blankly amoral to sustain interest, but the film has isolated moments of haunting poetry.