Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald is an Irish industrialist who lives in Iquitos in north-east Peru in the early twentieth-century and is passionate about one thing - opera. He has a crazy dream to build an opera-house in one of the most remote places in the world, and embarks on a dangerous voyage up the Pachitea River to raise the necessary funds ...
Confession time here - I like Fitzcarraldo a lot, but I actually like Les Blank's Burden Of Dreams, a documentary about the making of the movie, quite a bit more. The reason for this is that whilst it is a truly original and fascinating film, the knowledge that none of it was faked - Herzog really did hire the indigenous Machiguenga tribe to pull the 320-ton steamship over a hill, with no model-shots or special effects - makes it more amazing as a physical accomplishment than a cinematic experience. This forty-five minute sequence is astonishing but then so is the whole movie, a visually arresting fable of folly for the sake of it. Kinski is terrific here; iconic in his white suit and panama hat against the greens and browns of the jungle, and it's great to see him for once playing a nice guy, ably supported by the gorgeous Cardinale, who adds glamour and humour to the piece. Where it falls down in my view is that it's a tough movie to get animated about - very languid, with a protagonist who is almost impossible to identify with and a plot which seems to derive directly from Herzog's ambition rather than any kind of storytelling style. Made by many of the same crew as the superior Aguirre, Zorn Des Gottes (cameraman Thomas Mauch, composers Popol Vuh, editor Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus) and even shot in some of the same Peruvian locations, this is Herzog's most famous and acclaimed film - he won Best Director at Cannes - though for my money not his best one. If nothing else however, it is a remarkable achievement and a truly original piece of film craft.
Confession time here - I like Fitzcarraldo a lot, but I actually like Les Blank's Burden Of Dreams, a documentary about the making of the movie, quite a bit more. The reason for this is that whilst it is a truly original and fascinating film, the knowledge that none of it was faked - Herzog really did hire the indigenous Machiguenga tribe to pull the 320-ton steamship over a hill, with no model-shots or special effects - makes it more amazing as a physical accomplishment than a cinematic experience. This forty-five minute sequence is astonishing but then so is the whole movie, a visually arresting fable of folly for the sake of it. Kinski is terrific here; iconic in his white suit and panama hat against the greens and browns of the jungle, and it's great to see him for once playing a nice guy, ably supported by the gorgeous Cardinale, who adds glamour and humour to the piece. Where it falls down in my view is that it's a tough movie to get animated about - very languid, with a protagonist who is almost impossible to identify with and a plot which seems to derive directly from Herzog's ambition rather than any kind of storytelling style. Made by many of the same crew as the superior Aguirre, Zorn Des Gottes (cameraman Thomas Mauch, composers Popol Vuh, editor Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus) and even shot in some of the same Peruvian locations, this is Herzog's most famous and acclaimed film - he won Best Director at Cannes - though for my money not his best one. If nothing else however, it is a remarkable achievement and a truly original piece of film craft.