Aguirre, the Wrath of God (5 Stars)

"I am the great traitor. There can be none greater than me. Anyone who even thinks about running away will be cut up into 198 pieces. Then I'll stamp on him until I can paint the walls with him. Whoever takes one grain of corn or one drop of water more than his ration, will be locked up for 155 years. If I, Aguirre, want the birds to drop dead from the trees, then the birds will drop dead from the trees. I am the wrath of God. The Earth that I walk on sees me and trembles. But whoever follows me will be given untold riches".

Film critic Roger Ebert said that this is the best film that's ever been made. If he'd said that to my face I wouldn't have been able to argue with him. I might have said that I enjoy this or that film more, but when it comes to quality "Aguirre" is in a class of its own.

Klaus Kinski plays the title role like he was born to play it. Only a madman can accurately portray a madman on screen. We can see through his eyes. Aguirre saw light when everything around him was darkness. In the early stages of the film we might praise him for having hope. Hope is a good thing, isn't it? But listen to his final words as he sails southwards on a small raft. He says that he'll marry his daughter, and his children will be the purest dynasty the world has ever known. He'll conquer Mexico and all of South America. As he speaks these words his daughter and all of his soldiers are lying dead around him. The only ones listening to him are monkeys.

This is a film that awes me and scares me at the same time. One of the characteristics of madness is that a mad person can't see that he's mad, only those around him can see it. But what happens when there's no one with you to judge your sanity? Then you're truly lost in your madness.