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“Aguirre, the Wrath of God is one of the great haunting visions of the cinema.” – Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com
In the 16th century, a Spanish expedition, seeking the fabled lost city of El Dorado, sent out an advance party to explore a tributary of the Amazon River, only for them to vanish without a trace. Herzog takes this obscure historical episode and transforms it into Aguirre, the Wrath of God, a chilling portrayal of imperialism spiraling into madness.
In Herzog’s retelling, the expedition falls under the control of Don Lope de Aguirre, a power-hungry madman bent on conquering an entire continent. Klaus Kinski’s performance as Aguirre is nothing short of extraordinary, blending dark humor and terrifying menace, creating a character who is part Richard III and part Attila the Hun. Filmed in the perilous terrain of Peru, Aguirre, the Wrath of God immerses the audience in a harrowing journey that is stunningly photographed in hazardous locations in Peru. This bold film takes the viewer on a mad voyage as frightening and entertaining as one of Edgar Allan Poe’s maelstrom epics of demented discovery, featuring a seething, controlled performance from Klaus Kinski, who delivers an unforgettable portrait of madness and lust for power.
In German, Quechua, and Spanish with English subtitles.
Directed by Werner Herzog, West Germany/Mexico, 1972, DCP, 95 mins.
FACETS and Werner Herzog: Championing a Visionary Filmmaker
FACETS has always been a cultural explorer and one of these discoveries was the work of German filmmaker Werner Herzog, a key part of the New German Cinema (1962-1982) whose members believed in the D.I.Y. aesthetic and were undaunted by the challenges of making original films with modest budgets. Their themes were about life in contemporary German society (the economic miracle) after WWII, and they were young radical filmmakers whose bold ambitions sought to reinvigorate the artistic and political challenges as Germany was rebuilding itself. They were experimenting with evocative subject matter and the extraordinary work of provocative filmmaker Werner Herzog, was recognized very early by Milos Stehlik, founder of FACETS, and we were the first exhibition venue to bring his early work to the attention it deserved, which was justifiably celebrated as his career became more successful.
Roger Ebert described Herzog as “the most interesting director of the 1970s” when he moderated Herzog’s first master class at FACETS in 1979. As artistic director, Milos Stehlik once said: “More than a filmmaker, Werner Herzog has been an empowering life force, giving other filmmakers and all of us the courage to reach beyond our limits, to embrace the mysterious, and to understand the inexplicable. The images in his films resonate to the far reaches of our world but also to our cells, underscoring the terror, beauty and fragility of our bodies and our planet.”
Festivals, Awards, & Nominations
Winner – Best Cinematography (Thomas Mauch), National Society of Film Critics Awards 1977
Winner – Best Foreign Film, French Syndicate of Cinema Critics 1976
Winner – Best Cinematography (Thomas Mauch), German Film Awards 1973
FILM CRITIC
Ray Pride is longtime film critic and senior editor of Chicago’s Newcity arts magazine and writes their weekday “Today In Culture” column. He is also a photographer and is completing a book on “Chicago Ghost Signs.”
5 FILMS/5 DECADES/5 CRITICS
Aguirre, the Wrath of God screens as a part of the new FACETS 50th Anniversary series curated by Charles Coleman and hosted by local film critics, “5 Films/5 Decades/5 Critics” digs through our 50-year history to present bold arthouse and independent gems that we’ve discovered and championed over the years. View full series here.
