German filmmaker Werner Herzog has never done anything by halves. When Herzog tackled Fitzcarraldo, the story of an obsessed impresario (Klaus Kinski) whose foremost desire in life is to bring both Enrico Caruso and an opera house to the deepest jungles of South America, the director boldly embarked on the same journey, disdaining studios, process shots, and special effects throughout. The highlight of the story is Fizcarraldo's Herculean effort to haul a 300-plus ton steamship over the
mountains. No trickery was used in filming this grueling sequence, and stories still persist of disgruntled South American film technicians awaiting the opportunity to strangle Herzog if he ever sets foot on their land again. In the end, Herzog proved to be as driven and single-purposed as his protagonist, and it is the audience's knowledge of this that adds to the excitement of Fitzcarraldo. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
It's a stunning spectacle, an adventure-comedy not quite like any other, and the most benign movie ever made about 19th-century capitalism running amok.
If you have a dream, the only way to accomplish it is to face it head on. If your dream requires you to drag a massive boat up a mountainside, do it. So says director Werner Herzog in the bizarre but captivating Fitzcarraldo.
If there's a point to this, it's what Herzog's point always is: That obsession can drive you nuts. I'm not sure I needed a freaky German traipsing through the jungle for 2 1/2 hours to drive that point home.
This film is exhausting to watch due to it's immense scale. Herzog, much like the character that Kinski portrays, must have been absolutely mad when creating a film of this magnitude. While it is not the most exciting film to watch, it is certainly worth the experience. Heck, when is a Herzog/Kinski collaboration not
worth your time?
August 23, 2011
Reid Volk
Super Reviewer
I'm in awe of the amount of time and effort that it must have taken to make this film possible. It is man against nature on the grandest of scales. A contrast of lace and mud. Fitzcarraldo is a study of the line between modern society and the last outposts of frontier. The story of a man who dreams of bringing
opera to the jungles of South America. I'm not sure if I understand director Werner Herzog's motivation but I certainly admire his stamina.
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