Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Directed by Werner Herzog
- history
- adventure
- drama
The story
A few decades after the destruction of the Inca Empire, a Spanish expedition led by the infamous Aguirre leaves the mountains of Peru and goes down the Amazon River in search of the lost city of El Dorado. When great difficulties arise, Aguirre’s men start to wonder whether their quest will lead them to prosperity or certain death.
What it’s like
Slow, unbroken takes of a raft drifting across brown river water under a bleached, merciless sky, the camera often static and distant so the men look like specks against a green wall of rainforest. Mud, sweat and rust-colored costume dominate the palette, with the mist of the jungle softening every edge, and the sound is mostly the river's hush, insects, creaking timber and the eerie, chanting choral music that surfaces only at moments of dread. Pacing is hypnotic and deliberately stalled, with long stretches of waiting broken by sudden, ugly eruptions of madness and violence, which land hard but brief rather than gory. The emotional register is bleak, feverish and hallucinatory, a slow unravelling of a leader's grip on reason as his men lose faith in the quest for gold. Expect psychological cruelty, a few abrupt deaths, and an overall sense of dread rather than constant bloodshed. Best suited to viewers who want an austere, darkly philosophical experience and can tolerate a deliberately uncomfortable, unhurried watch.
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