Aguirre, the Wrath of God (5 Stars)

"I am the wrath of God. The Earth that I walk on sees me and trembles".

Film critic Roger Ebert, the man who inspired me to write this blog, said that this was the best film ever made. It's not my favourite film, but he's someone whose opinion I take seriously. I agree that it has overwhelming power in the simplicity of its story and the luscious scenery.

The characters who appear in the film are all people who actually lived in South America in the 16th Century, but it isn't a true story. It's something that might have happened. Aguirre, whose full name was Lope de Aguirre, was a man who was known for his arrogance and was given the nickname "The Madman". I would go as far as to say that this is the greatest role of Klaus Kinski's career. He was one of the world's most intense actors, with a psychotic stare that made him look mad, and this is what he expresses in "Aguirre" (to use the film's shortened name).

The film takes place from December 1560 to February 1561. After conquering the Inca empire a Spanish expedition led by Gonzalo Pizarro is marching south through mountainous terrain, searching for El Dorado. They run out of supplies, so Pizarro says that they will make camp and send a group of 40 men downstream on four rafts to hunt for food. If they don't return within a week they will be assumed lost, and the main group will return to Mexico. Pedro de Ursua is named the leader of the advance party, and Lope de Aguirre is his second in command.

On the first day one of the rafts is separated from the others, and its men are murdered by Indians. On the next day, while the remaining men are sleeping on land, the other rafts are swept away by massive flooding. Ursua says they should return by land to the main group, but Aguirre rebels against him. He shoots Ursua and all those who agree with him. He orders the men to build one large raft that will carry them all. He wants to conquer El Dorado for himself, not for the Spanish King. He writes a letter declaring El Dorado an independent country.

As the journey continues the men are killed one by one by unseen enemies shooting arrows or poison darts. This doesn't discourage Aguirre. If anything, it makes him bolder. He swears that after conquering El Dorado he'll march back and conquer Mexico from the Spanish.

The madness isn't only in Aguirre, it's also in the monk Gaspar de Carvajal who travels with him. He claims that the most important part of their mission is to bring Christianity to the primitive people of South America. Anyone who doesn't convert to Christianity is killed. While many of the soldiers only follow Aguirre out of fear, Carvajal supports him whole-heartedly.

One thing worth mentioning is the music. It was all composed by the group Popol Vuh, an electronic group from Munich formed by Florian Fricke. Part of the music comes from their album "In den Gärten Pharaos" (engl. "In Pharaoh's Gardens"), the rest was recorded for the film. Popol Vuh released an album called "Aguirre" which contains the new recordings plus a few tracks that didn't make it into the film.

This is a film that will leave nobody cold. After watching it you'll be left speechless. Is it the story or Klaus Kinski's acting? I think it's a mixture of the two. I'd like to discuss the film with someone. If you've seen "Aguirre", please leave a comment telling me what you think of it.

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