I recent saw the movie Aguirre, The Wrath of God. Besides Klaus' brief appearance as a hunchback in For a Few Dollars More, I haven't really seen any real Klaus Kinsi films. Aguirre seems the most famous of his films, so I started with that.
This is the kind of film I wish there was more of. It is both personal and historical. The class of civilizations when the Spanish invaded Central and South America has always been interesting to me, and this is the first film I've seen about that period. The movie, made in 1972, only looks dated when showing that 1970's era low-budget blood that is so familiar to fans of zombie films from that era. The rest, though, looks surprisingly modern. Excellent cinematography. The plot is very simple, but manages to show a surprising amount of facets to the journey: the terrain, the food, the cannibals, the primitive raft construction, the black slave, the native slaves, the noblemen, the women, the religious killings of natives who could have to help them, and finally the increasinly maniacal Don Lope de Aguirre.
I've started watching the commentary as well, which is fascinating. Evidently it was based on a real letter. Werner Herzog wrote the film in 2 days, and a drunk guy vomiting on his typewriter made him lose a few scenes (which he later could not remember). The making of the film also seems interesting, since it was filmed on location, with actors trudging through real swamps, etc.
Next up in my Kinski-fest is Fitzcarraldo and My Best Feind.
Posted by ahyatt at March 9, 2005 04:34 AM