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Aguirre: The Wrath Of God
November 16, 2015, 7:00 PM
$5
Werner Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath Of God looks more magnificent and mad than ever, one of the great folies de grandeur of 1970s cinema, an expeditionary Conradian nightmare like Coppola's Apocalypse Now.
Just as for that film, the agonies of its production history have entered into legend, almost equivalent to the movie fiction itself. (Herzog's 1999 documentary My Best Fiend, about his leading man Klaus Kinski, tells the incredible story of the insanely dangerous shooting conditions and near-murderous rows between director and star.)
It is based loosely on the true story of 16th-century conquistador Lupe De Aguirre (Kinski), the second-in-command of a Spanish force journeying down the Amazon in search of the mythical riches of El Dorado. Driven half-mad by the heat, hunger and danger from native attack, the commander declares a retreat — but Aguirre mutinies, kills the leader and announces they must carry on. Kinski's piercing, china-blue eyes are those of a natural-born tyrant, a visionary who can see only his delusions.
— Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian.
Print from the Werner Herzog Film Archives in Berlin. Unrated, 93 min., 1972. In German with English subtitles.
Tickets: $9/$5 students.
Part of the Maine Film Center's Monday Night Movies: Human/Nature 35mm Film Series.
Series Sponsor: Colby College Center for the Arts and Humanities.
Film Sponsor: Colby College Department of German and Russian.