Wednesday | October 22, 2003 9:30 pm

Aguirre, The Wrath of God
(Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes)

Screening on Film

Directed by Werner Herzog.
With Klaus Kinski, Ruy Guerra, Del Negro.
West Germany, 1972, 35mm, color, 95 min.
German with English subtitles.

Filming in South America, Herzog recreated the exploits of sixteenth-century Spanish explorer Aguirre (Kinski), who with his retinue searched for El Dorado over mountains, through jungles, and down a great river. The film is at once documentary-like and deliriously lyrical: although it identifies with Aguirre's obsessed and unbalanced state of mind, it keeps a critical and ironic distance from the whole adventure. Kinski's performance in the title role is nothing short of phenomenal.