Fitzcarraldo is the second Werner Herzog film I've seen about an ill-fated voyage on the Amazon led by Klaus Kinski. The first one, Aguirre: The Wrath of God, reminded me of the beautiful insanity of Apocalypse Now, which it undoubtedly helped to inspire. The production difficulties of this film are also reminiscent of Apocalypse Now and they are documented in the film Burden of Dreams, expect to see a post on that in the near future.
Although it was truly marvelous to see a three-story tall boat dragged over a mountain (or a hill, if you want to be all accurate about it), I don't think that this film is as strong as Aguirre. That was about a man loosing himself to mad ambition while this one is about a man finding himself through his mad ambition. Maybe you disagree but for me it's much more fascinating to watch a man gradually self-destruct. It seems more honest.
Also, it takes a really long time for this film to get going. It's frustrating to watch a movie that's famous for moving a boat up a 40 degree slope and have to wait until halfway through before that feat is even suggested. It wouldn't bee so bad if the film jumped straight into Kinski in the jungle dealing with the mysterious Indians (Native-Peruvians?) but I think the first 45 minutes were about Kinski trying to build an opera house in a city. Not what I signed up for.
Although I can loose my patience with him and get a little bored, I must admit that Herzog is a daring filmmaker. He makes bold choices and is willing to go through hell to capture his vision on celluloid. Even if his films don't always entertain me, I'm always left with a few images that I just can't shake.
I still can't believe that Klaus Kinski is Nastassja Kinski's father. She is super hot (at least she was in 1984) and he resembles the undead.
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