Aguirre, the Wrath of God
We Heart Herzog
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1h 33m
Directed by Werner Herzog | 94 mins | 1972
The first collaboration between Herzog and Klaus Kinski cast the notoriously unhinged actor as the even more unhinged 16th-century conquistador Don Lope de Aguirre—nicknamed “El Loco” or “The Madman”—found embarking on his final mission: a frantic search for El Dorado, the mythical South American city of gold that was the source of so many lost dreams. Aguirre takes control over a Spanish expedition, leading the crew and his young daughter down the Amazon on a slow descent into hell, accompanied by the haunting, ambient score by Popol Vuh, the German collective who would contribute to the soundtracks of many Herzog films to come. Perhaps the ultimate of the director’s portraits of madness and his seamless weaving of fact into fiction (his version of "Aguirre" is mostly created), it ranks high among Herzog’s masterpieces.
Up Next in We Heart Herzog
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Nosferatu the Vampyre
Directed by Werner Herzog | 107 mins | 1979
Herzog brashly took up the mantle of German Expressionism in revisiting the unhallowed soil of Murnau’s masterpiece, with old foe and collaborator Klaus Kinski as the pestilent Count and Isabelle Adjani as the owner of the pale, slender neck that he so ... -
My Best Fiend
Directed by Werner Herzog | 99 mins | 1999
Amidst insults hurled, tantrums thrown, and some literal shots fired, Herzog’s collaboration with the notoriously explosive Klaus Kinski produced five indelible films, from 1972’s "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" to 1987’s "Cobra Verde". “Every gray hair on m...
