Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972)

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog (written by)

Release Date:

3 April 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History

Tagline:

On this river, God never finished his creation.

Plot:

In in 16th century, the ruthless and insane Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.

Plot Keywords:

River | Expedition | Spanish | Empire | Inca

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Klaus Kinski	...	Don Lope de Aguirre
Helena Rojo	...	Inez
Del Negro	...	Brother Gaspar de Carvajal
Ruy Guerra	...	Don Pedro de Ursua
Peter Berling	...	Don Fernando de Guzman
Cecilia Rivera	...	Flores
Daniel Ades	...	Perucho (as Dan Ades)
Edward Roland	...	Okello
Alejandro Chavez
Armando Polanah	...	Armando
Daniel Farfán
Julio E. Martínez
Alejandro Repulles	...	Gonzalo Pizarro
Indianern der Kooperative Lauramarca
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Justo González	...	González
Antonio Marquez

Also Known As:

Aguirre, Wrath of God (UK)
Aguirre: The Wrath of God (USA)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12 | South Korea:15 | South Korea:12 (2002) | Argentina:18 | Australia:M (cable rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1991)

Filming Locations:

Aguaruna Lands, Peru

Company:

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

Trivia:

Herzog did not storyboard a single frame of the film. All of it was shot and framed spontaneously.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Peruvian Indians are dressed in clothes that were imported by Spanish people in 19th Century. The Aguirre story is setted in 16th Century.

Quotes:

Okello: [Hallucinating] That is no ship. That is no forest.
[Arrow hits him]
Okello: That is no arrow. We just imagine the arrows because we fear them.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Soundtrack:

Aguirre, Der Zorn Gottes (Lacrime Di Re)

**** out of ****

Stunning, dreamlike film documents (in a somewhat documentary style), the story of Don Lope de Aguirre (Klaus Kinski), who leads a group of Spanish conquistadors into the depths of the jungle in search for El Dorado, the mythical city of gold. Beautiful cinematography and locations place the viewer into the heart of the jungle, where they witness firsthand Aguirre's descent into madness. Continually interesting and exciting, it features some of the greatest images ever committed to film, most notably the opening and closing shots of the movie.