January, 2006
Aguirre: The Wrath of God
Herzog, 1973
Aguirre, the Wrath of God opens with a breathtaking shot of a steep, nearly impassable Ande Mountain in South America. The camera pans down and we see a seemingly endless snaking string of humans traversing their way through a narrow path, descending towards an unexplored jungle where the fabled city of gold, El Dorado, was rumored to be. This opening shot is very important because it almost seems to foreshadow the expedition's eventual demise, and at the same time it captures the audience with its simple power and holds their attention, commandingly. At the same time a beautiful atmospheric score echoes and reverberates throughout. It was immediately apparent that this was going to be a treasure of a movie.
The strongest aspect going for Aguirre is the chillingly raw characters and strong themes presented by Werner Herzog's script. The characters actually do not have very flushed out backgrounds, and we really never even get to learn much about their general personalities. However, what we do get is a look into the true core of man. It is said that you never truly know a man until he has been to the end of his rope. It is at that point where his true self is revealed, and that is what Aguirre, the Wrath of God so expertly exposes. It fleshes out what is truly inside of everyone, but rarely seen. The themes brought forth branch from the expeditions venture into the vast Amazon in search of the fabled El Dorado city of limitless gold. The group goes in with every intention of finding the gold and are relatively normal. However, as they journey further and further inside the jungle, and drift down what seems to be an endless river they begin to surcome to obsession. They are so overcome by the promise of limitless wealth that the characters begin to turn on themselves, killing and backstabbing; foiling and sabotaging. As the film progresses they become even more noticeably unstable as they begin to hallucinate and seem to become completely callus to violence. It is almost dreamlike watching them gradually decay mentally and spiritually. The Wrath of God really does an incredible job
Some have said that this journey is rather boring, and I've read reviews from those who could hardly stay awake during the runtime. But I think director Werner Herzog did a fantastic job with this film, which he also wrote, when it comes down to it's story and mechanics. The characters, especially Aguirre himself, are fascinating to watch. I loved seeing them fight against each other, I loved seeing the lust for wealth in their faces, and as mentioned before, I loved seeing them fall to insanity. Klaus Kinski does an absolutely remarkable job playing Aguirre himself, and he is one of the main characters which Herzog used to show what is gradually happening to them as they drift deeper and deeper into the Amazon. It would not have been the same without him.
Aguirre, the Wrath of God was just such an immersing experience that it is hard to put into words. To try to sum up it all up I guess I would have to say the main component which made Aguirre successful was the themes and the way they are explored. Everything else, such as the beautiful and stunning photography or the choice of casting Kinski, simply supports these themes. By the end I had a very strong feeling about what I had just seen. I felt like I had seen an excellent representation of what greed and power will do to men. It was all so powerful. I think the most potent and definitive scene in the film was when the puppet king Aguirre installed ordered the horse be thrown off the boat. The poor thing swam to shore and just stood, watching the raft drift away. It was so, so sad seeing the innocent horse, especially since it would not be able to survive very long on its own. It was so heartbreaking to see him just stand on the shore, and for some reason I feel like that is the best scene which I can use to describe Aguirre. The men's obsession got so bed that they cast the innocent horse to his death with the snap of a finger. If you haven't already seen this, I would defiantly try to track it down because it demands you to view it.
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