In 1972, the German director Werner Herzog launched a work into the cinematic world that has become a cult classic: ‘Aguirre, the Wrath of God’ (1972). The film is distinguished by its bold narrative and intense acting. The plot of the film follows the expedition of the Spanish conquistador Lope de Aguirre, masterfully played by the German actor Klaus Kinski, who He leads a group of explorers on a delirious search for the legendary city of El Dorado in the heart of the Amazon jungle.. As Aguirre’s obsession with finding the mythical golden city intensifies, the group spirals into madness and destruction. Herzog, known for his provocative style and his ability to capture the human essence in extreme situations, offers us in this work a disturbing and fascinating vision of the excessive ambition of human beings. The film is currently available on Prime Video.
Despite not having widespread recognition in the international circuit of awards and film festivals, ‘Aguirre, the Wrath of God’ achieved a nomination at the César Awards given by the French Film Academy in the category of Best Foreign Film. In addition, he also managed to get the award for Best Photography at the Lola Awards given by the German Film Academy. Although it did not win any major awards, His legacy endures in the recognition and worship paid to him by critics and film buffs around the world.
‘Aguirre, the wrath of God’ is a cinematic marvel from a technical point of view. Thomas Mauch’s award-winning cinematography captures the vast and threatening Amazon jungle with stunning realism, turning the natural environment into another character in the story. The cast, led by the eccentric actor Klaus Kinski, who had a love-hate relationship with the film’s director, includes Helena Rojo, Peter Berling, Ruy Guerra and Cecilia Rivera.
The professional and personal relationship between Herzog and Kinski, known to be tumultuous, helped the actor harness all of his artistic qualities, making his screen presence both magnetic and terrifying. In this climate of extreme tension between both, Herzog claimed to have threatened Kinski with a gun to get him to continue filming, illustrating the volcanic and crazed character of both the actor and the director. Additionally, filming in the Amazon rainforest presented numerous logistical and environmental challenges, from tropical diseases to the difficulty of transporting equipment through inhospitable terrain, which brought greater authenticity and rawness to the film that would be difficult to replicate in a more controlled environment. .
While media such as Time Out have defined it as “Herzog’s insane masterpiece”, Fotogramas’ review of ‘Aguirre, the Wrath of God’ He emphasized its aura as a cult film: “Possibly the most popular film by its director, in which the story that years later would give rise to the disappointing ‘El Dorado’, by Carlos Saura, is freely addressed. Presented as a vital itinerary that inevitably leads to madness, the sense of excess becomes the tone of an occasionally fascinating story but with excessive tendency to dispersion.”
