Fitzcarraldo
Theatrical Film, 1982
Director: Werner Herzog (could it be anyone else?)
The Story
Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, aka “Fitzcarraldo” is a failed entrepreneur in the Peruvian city of Iquitos. He has one overriding passion: opera. And he has one overriding dream: building an opera house in his hometown. To do this though, he’s going to need money. Lots of money. And considering that this is Peru in the early twentieth century, the one way to make a lot of money is through rubber. Fitzcarraldo leases a chunk of land loaded with rubber trees and plans to get enough rubber to make himself stinking rich. Because dangerous river rapids make this area inaccessible, our half-mad genius has a plan: sail down the neighboring river, then cross over land where the area between the two waterways is the smallest, then sail on to Rubber Paradise. To accomplish this, he only needs to travel down headhunter-infested streams and drag a 500 ton boat over a mountain. Should be easy, right?
Review
Werner Herzog is fucking insane. And completely fucking awesome. Only he would do a movie like this. I know I said that about Aguirre, but this movie puts that one to shame; this is Aguirre turned up to 11. Herzog has said that making this movie was a nightmare, but he must obviously love shooting movies in the jungle on the Amazon River with a crazy raving egomaniac, because he did it twice. You know what I think? I think he likes it. I think Herzog is a masochist. I think he likes the pain, the endless suffering and hardship, the toil to produce something monumental out of so much torment. Well, he is German.
Anyway, this has to be the greatest movie I have seen yet from Herzog. All of the work that went into making this movie paid off because this is one awesome piece of cinema. This also has to be the only uplifting film I have seen from Herzog up to this point. Unlike the other films of his that I have reviewed so far, Fitzcarraldo will bring a warm, genuine smile to your face at the end. I won’t spoil it for you, but you can rest assured that even though this movie shares much in common with the earlier Herzog-Kinski effort Aguirre, this ending is nothing like the one for that film. Also be prepared to be impressed with the efforts of the characters and feel their struggles and triumphs along with them. You will feel every elation and every dejection as they struggle to get that boat up that mountain. Why? Because they really are hauling that boat up that mountain. That isn’t a model, people. That’s real. Herzog and a group of Amazonian Indians really did drag a multi-ton riverboat up a steep hill in the Amazon Jungle. This officially makes Werner Herzog the most hardcore filmmaker in the history of cinema. I think that if the man suddenly decided he wanted to do a space opera he would raise the money, actually go into space and build fleets of starships with real-live death dealing laser cannons. Werner Herzog doesn’t do special effects! Special effects are for wussies!
Speaking of Herzog, the main character of this movie himself has to be the most blatant stand-in for a director I have ever seen. Think about it. Fitzcarraldo is a man driven by a singular passion: to build an opera house. And he’s not going to let anything, not financial failure, nor headhunters, nor the jungle, nor a mountain stop him from realizing his dream. And what is Herzog? Herzog is a man driven by a singular passion: to make movies. And he’s not going to let anything, not financial failure, nor headhunters, nor the jungle, nor a mountain stop him from realizing his dream. I have read that Herzog was briefly considering playing the role himself after Jason Robards got sick and had to leave the shoot. I’m glad he didn’t – because we would have been denied another great Kinski acting accomplishment – but it would have been interesting seeing the director play a role that was basically autobiographical. As it is, Klaus Kinski puts in another of his grand performances. On a side note, this is the most sympathetic and likeable Kinski character I have seen so far. He has a goal that – if a bit far-fetched – the audience can really get behind, and even if he is intense and almost mad seems like a guy that you could actually sit down and have a drink with without a)checking to see if your cup was poisoned (Aguirre), b)running away in abject terror (Nosferatu) or c)giving him Dr. Freud’s business card (Wozeck).
To conclude this gush-fest, see Fitzcarraldo. Kinski is great as always, the music is really good, and the direction is the best yet that I have seen from Herzog (more gorgeous scenery galore). Too often in the movies the audience is told to pursue their dreams and never give up hope but it this message usually comes off as trite; not so here. Fitzcarraldo is one of a very small number of films that is genuinely inspiring. And that is saying a lot.
Screenshots
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| Kinski as Fitzcarraldo, with Claudia Cardinale as his brothel-owning personal bank- er, girlfriend, Molly. |
Okay, I think I'm just gonna start keeping a tally of animal abuse in Herzog's movies.
Fitzcarraldo count: one cat thrown (again) along with one snake speared.
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| "Uh, I think it's time to let me out now... Hello?... Vern?... Where'd everybody go?...." |
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| Cue Ike and Tina. |
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| "Oh, my God! I see crappy movie roles and a whacked out autobiography ahead!" |
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| "...And we'll put the shopping mall here...." |
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| This is no model. Behold the awesome insanity that is Herzog! |
"And he spent twenty years chained to the wheel of pain-"
oops, sorry, wrong movie from 1982.
The DVD
Not much to say. It's like every other Anchor Bay Herzog-Kinski DVD. The picture is pretty good, and audio comes in both English and German (again, like Aguirre this film was shot in English). One thing that annoys me though is that like the Aguirre DVD, if you choose to watch the film in English the opening text is in German and is not subtitled. Argh. Oh well.
Next Week: Cobra Verde
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