Director: Werner Herzog
Year: 1982
Country: West Germany
Language: German
The making of Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo is so legendary that an entire documentary known as Burden of Dreams was made from it.I had seen the great documentary before the film and it definitely gave me great interest. In one scene Herzog claims "I live my life or I end my life with this project" Indeed this project nearly killed him, however we must never underestimate the dreams of a suggested mad man.
Fitzarraldo is essentially about a man named Fitzcarraldo (Klaus Kinski), an an obsessed opera lover who wants to build an opera in the jungle. To accomplish this he first has to make a fortune in the rubber business, and his cunning plan involves hauling an enormous river boat across a small mountain with aid from the local Indians.
What happens when an obsessive director and an incredibly eccentric actor make a film about an obsessive man? Well...hell. Instead of filming the movie in a studio or in a heavily forested area in his own country, Herzog decided to move his cast and crew to the Amazon where they were forced to face the unforgiving elements of nature. In Burden of Dreams he claims the jungle is "a land that God, if he exists- has created in anger" Everybody involved in this project was in extreme danger, one crew member had to cut off his own foot because he was bit by a poisonous snake. Everyone associated with the film was marked, or scarred, by the experience.
If Werner Herzog can be any kind of role model, it is the fact that he doesn't give up on his dreams regardless of how insane and unsafe they may be. On the set of his film he is quotes as saying "Without dreams we would be cows in a field, and I don't want to live like that." Because he followed his dream despite the many setbacks, he created a masterpiece that is still loved to this day, I also admire that he thinks a lot of his audience, for instance he built a real ship instead of using CGI because he thought the audience would definitely know the difference. He wouldn't dare challenge their intelligence.
One of the ways we can look at Fitzcarraldo is that it's essentially a film about the birthing process. Fitzcarraldo was given nine months for his project to finish. When he was explaining the captain about his fantastic plan the pencil drawing that he came up with distinctly resembles a diagram of the human female reproductive system. One particular angle in a shot of the ship climbing up the slope reminded me of an intra utero shot of babies to be born. And last but not least, the severing of the rope that tied the ship distinctly reminded me of the severing of the umbilical cord.
In conclusion, though this film may be flawed due to an anti-climatic ending I think it has a lot to say about the power of dreams and therefore I feel that it is one of the most important and elaborate films ever made.Few directors would put in the effort Herzog does to make a film. I love his engulfing cinematography and his unique slower style of pacing. This is a film I will reflect on for a long time. Praise it! 4.5/5
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