Aguirre, the Wrath of God [Blu-ray]

Overview

The most famed and well-regarded collaboration between New German Cinema director Werner Herzog and his frequent leading man, Klaus Kinski, this epic historical drama was legendary for the arduousness of its on-location filming and the convincing zealous obsession employed by Kinski in playing the title role. Exhausted and near to admitting failure in its quest for riches, the 1650-51 expedition of Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro (Alejandro Repulles) bogs down in the impenetrable jungles of Peru. As a last-ditch effort to locate treasure, Pizarro orders a party to scout ahead for signs of El Dorado, the fabled seven cities of gold. In command are a trio of nobles, Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra), Fernando de Guzman (Peter Berling), and Lope de Aguirre (Kinski). Traveling by river raft, the explorers are besieged by hostile natives, disease, starvation and treacherous waters. Crazed with greed and mad with power, Aguirre takes over the enterprise, slaughtering any that oppose him. Nature and Aguirre's own unquenchable thirst for glory ultimately render him insane, in charge of nothing but a raft of corpses and chattering monkeys. Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1973) was based on the real-life journals of a priest, Brother Gaspar de Carvajal (played in the film by Del Negro), who accompanied Pizarro on his ill-fated mission.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/17/2015
UPC:	0826663156843
Original Release:	1972
Rating:	NR
Source:	Shout Factory
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:34:00

Special Features

Audio commentary with Writer/Producer/Director Werner Herzog; Audio Commentary with Werner Herzog, Moderated by Laurens Straub (in German with English Subtitles); Theatrical trailer; Still gallery

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Klaus Kinski	Don Lope de Aguirre
Ruy Guerra	Don Pedro de Ursua
Del Negro	Brother Gaspar de Carvajal
Helena Rojo	Inez
Cecilia Rivera	Flores
Peter Berling	Don Fernando de Guzman
Alejandro Repulles	Gonzalez Pizarro
Daniel Ades	Perucho
Armando Polanha	Armando
Edward Roland	Okello
Daniel Farfán	Actor
Julio E. Martínez	Actor
Armando Polanah	Actor
Daniel Zacapa	Actor
Popol Vuh	Composer

Technical Credits

Werner Herzog

Werner Herzog	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Juvenal Herrera	Special Effects
Miguel Vasquez	Special Effects
Hans Prescher	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Few actor/director relationships were more combative than that of Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog (most manage to creatively negotiate without resorting to the threat of lethal violence), but fewer still so dramatically brought out the best in each artist. Before Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes, Kinski was a fine actor who made a career out of starring in third-rate films, while Herzog was a skillful filmmaker whose works often lacked the clear focal points they needed. But with Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes, Kinski finally had a role worthy of his gifts as the gloriously mad conquistador Aguirre, and Herzog had a leading man whose bizarre but inarguably potent charisma made him impossible to ignore; tgoether, they brought a bizarre, surreal story to vivid and sweaty life. While Kinski and Herzog would make four more films together, Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes remains perhaps the best work either man ever did; the final shot, of the psychotic Aguirre, doomed but glowing with what he believes to be triumph, standing tall on a raft overrun with monkeys, is just the sort of image that this pair of mad geniuses could have only created together.

All Movie Guide - Mark Deming