"Fitzcarraldo" is an extraordinary vision of what two warriors believe its their mission to conquer, their dreams to make it real and that is to fight for the art, no matter what it takes.
The first warrior is the main character played effortlessly by Klaus Kinski, an adventure and wannabe rubber baron named Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, nicknamed by the Indians as Fitzcarraldo and a lover of Enrico Caruso's opera performances. His mission is to build an opera house in the middle of the South American jungle in the early days of the 20th Century, and to be able to do that he must get money from the extraction of rubber in dangerous jungles, crossing rivers through rapids with his steamship and the most risky and ungrateful mission of all: to pull that same giant ship over a hill in order to reach the rubber and avoid some complications.
The second warrior is behind cameras and it is director Werner Herzog, who entered in a almost disastrous adventure to make this film, filming in several locations such as in Peru and Brazil; and went through a lot of trouble while making it during four endless years. Problems with casting the actors; letting go two of the main stars (Jason Robards and Mick Jagger) when 40% of the film was made, then he had to start over again with Kinski in the main role; troubles in finding locations; and the most disastrous of all the events was planning for a real steamship being pulled up the hill (and this ship was bigger than the one used in the real event that happened in 1890's); countless of troubles, all presented in the fascinating documentary "Burden of Dreams" (I strongly advise you to watch both films).
In the end, "Fitzcarraldo" is a metaphor about fighting against everything and everyone in order to fulfill a wish, a dream even that this dream might and will become a nightmare. I believe that Herzog was foreseeing lots of trouble to make this film, perhaps not the ones he had while shooting, because he and Fitzcarraldo are almost the same person, and it's difficult to not see an enormous similarity between both men. He fought for this film until the last moment and he managed to put the boat over the hill, just like Fitzcarraldo, who puts the boat in the same place on his way to built his opera house. They're in a long battle wanting to show the world something that would last, something beautiful and powerful, art at its best form as they believe. It's also a metaphor for obsessions too, everything must be perfect for these two: Herzog would wait long hours at the end of the day to find the perfect light to be captured in his film and he succeed it in that, you'll see beautiful images all around; and Fitzcarraldo's obsession in playing Caruso at almost all moments, reaching a high state of mind, and like the director, visualizing beauty.
Both men might have been called as "Conquistadores of the Useless" but they really conquered something in me, lots of reactions, emotions and sensations, a bright sense of accomplish; this film really fulfilled my expectations. I was excited before and during the adventure; terrified with the steamship being pulled over the hill, one of those moments when you feel a real panic in seeing how crazy those Indians, Fitzcarraldo and crew were by performing this task; and the ending moved me a lot as well. "Fitzcarraldo" translates like an unforgettable poetry into the screen with its themes, images, metaphors, music (the opera is perfect, but the original score is quite inappropriate in some scenes).
Many films were made about defeating obstacles and winning challenges and things never done before, dreams becoming reality, but how many achieved the level of greatness and beauty than this one? This is a truly cinematic experience with amazing performances by the cast, including Claudia Cardinale, José Lewgoy, Grande Otelo and others. This is an adventure! 10/10.
The first warrior is the main character played effortlessly by Klaus Kinski, an adventure and wannabe rubber baron named Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, nicknamed by the Indians as Fitzcarraldo and a lover of Enrico Caruso's opera performances. His mission is to build an opera house in the middle of the South American jungle in the early days of the 20th Century, and to be able to do that he must get money from the extraction of rubber in dangerous jungles, crossing rivers through rapids with his steamship and the most risky and ungrateful mission of all: to pull that same giant ship over a hill in order to reach the rubber and avoid some complications.
The second warrior is behind cameras and it is director Werner Herzog, who entered in a almost disastrous adventure to make this film, filming in several locations such as in Peru and Brazil; and went through a lot of trouble while making it during four endless years. Problems with casting the actors; letting go two of the main stars (Jason Robards and Mick Jagger) when 40% of the film was made, then he had to start over again with Kinski in the main role; troubles in finding locations; and the most disastrous of all the events was planning for a real steamship being pulled up the hill (and this ship was bigger than the one used in the real event that happened in 1890's); countless of troubles, all presented in the fascinating documentary "Burden of Dreams" (I strongly advise you to watch both films).
In the end, "Fitzcarraldo" is a metaphor about fighting against everything and everyone in order to fulfill a wish, a dream even that this dream might and will become a nightmare. I believe that Herzog was foreseeing lots of trouble to make this film, perhaps not the ones he had while shooting, because he and Fitzcarraldo are almost the same person, and it's difficult to not see an enormous similarity between both men. He fought for this film until the last moment and he managed to put the boat over the hill, just like Fitzcarraldo, who puts the boat in the same place on his way to built his opera house. They're in a long battle wanting to show the world something that would last, something beautiful and powerful, art at its best form as they believe. It's also a metaphor for obsessions too, everything must be perfect for these two: Herzog would wait long hours at the end of the day to find the perfect light to be captured in his film and he succeed it in that, you'll see beautiful images all around; and Fitzcarraldo's obsession in playing Caruso at almost all moments, reaching a high state of mind, and like the director, visualizing beauty.
Both men might have been called as "Conquistadores of the Useless" but they really conquered something in me, lots of reactions, emotions and sensations, a bright sense of accomplish; this film really fulfilled my expectations. I was excited before and during the adventure; terrified with the steamship being pulled over the hill, one of those moments when you feel a real panic in seeing how crazy those Indians, Fitzcarraldo and crew were by performing this task; and the ending moved me a lot as well. "Fitzcarraldo" translates like an unforgettable poetry into the screen with its themes, images, metaphors, music (the opera is perfect, but the original score is quite inappropriate in some scenes).
Many films were made about defeating obstacles and winning challenges and things never done before, dreams becoming reality, but how many achieved the level of greatness and beauty than this one? This is a truly cinematic experience with amazing performances by the cast, including Claudia Cardinale, José Lewgoy, Grande Otelo and others. This is an adventure! 10/10.