The Goethe-Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan on CMH Road conducted an exhibition+film screening session on Werner Herzog - The German Filmmaker between January 23,2009 and February 7, 2009. Since I wanted to do something different with Puii...and she's the kind that loves these kind of things - we paid a visit on January 4th, Saturday, 6:30 p.m.
They had scheduled the screening of Signs of Life (Lebenszeichen). The film roll was corrupted, so they stopped it inbetween and by popular demand switched to 'Aguirre, the wrath of God' (1972). This was about a group of Spanish Conquerers who travel down the Alps into the forests in search of the legendary El Dorado, the land of gold. They travel armed with weaponry and food. As they wander for days, a small group of soldiers break away to continue their search for El Dorado. After loosing many men (to the Indians along the Peru border), the leader Pedro de Ursua decides to turn back. However a non-comissioned officer, Lope de Aguirre, in his obsession to become a second Cortez, incites the remaining men to mutiny. Fearing that the men do not really trust him, Aguirre appoints Don Fernando de Guzman as "Emperor of El Dorado", declaring the Spanish King deposed. Ursua is granted a farcical trial where is charged with treason and sentenced to die, however Guzman shows 'clemency' and Ursua is kept prisoner. Guzmen is killed and Aguirre takes charge. He orders Ursua hung and kills all those that oppose him. Soon the group is reduced to a group of men (and two women) who are exhausted, feverish and hallucinating aboard a raft floating along the river.
Eventually in the last attack by the Indians, all are killed (including his daughter) except Aguirre. As he stands alone... in his hallucination, he talks of forming a 'pure' dynasty with his daughter.
Don Lope de Aguirre: I am the wrath of God. Who else is with me?
It was a sensual movie...with Klaus Kinski doing a brilliant job as Aguirre, although his voice was slightly turning off. I could feel the maddness, the terror, the power of Aguirre...though given the period in which it was made, the cinematography was decent.
As a footnote -
1. Herzog's relationship with Kinski was highly interesting. I copy off Wikipedia -
Herzog's first choice for the role of Aguirre was actor Klaus Kinski. The two had met many years before when the then-struggling young actor rented a room in Herzog’s family apartment, and the boarder’s often terrifying and deranged antics during the three months he lived there left a lasting impression on the director. Years later, Herzog remembered the volatile actor and knew that he was the only possible man who could play the mad Aguirre, and he sent Kinski a copy of the screenplay. "Between three and four in the morning, the phone rang," Herzog recalled. "It took me at least a couple of minutes before I realized that it was Kinski who was the source of this inarticulate screaming. And after an hour of this, it dawned on me that he found it the most fascinating screenplay and wanted to be Aguirre."
From the beginning of the production, Herzog and Kinski argued about the proper manner to portray Aguirre. Kinski wanted to play a "wild, ranting madman", but Herzog wanted something "quieter, more menacing". In order to get the performance he desired, before each shot Herzog would deliberately infuriate Kinski. After waiting for the hot-tempered actor's inevitable tantrum to "burn itself out", Herzog would then roll the camera.
On one occasion, irritated by the noise from a hut where cast and crew were playing cards, the explosive Kinski fired three gunshots at it, blowing the top joint off one extra's finger.Subsequently, Kinski started leaving the jungle location (over Herzog's refusal to fire a sound assistant), only changing his mind after Herzog threatened to shoot first Kinski and then himself. The latter incident has given rise to the legend that Herzog made Kinski act for him at gunpoint. However, Herzog has repeatedly debunked the claim during interviews, explaining he only verbally threatened Kinski in the heat of the moment, in a desperate attempt to keep him from leaving the set.
2. And there was Herzog himself -
To obtain the monkeys utilized in the climactic sequence, Herzog paid several locals to trap 400 monkeys; he paid them half in advance and was to pay the other half upon receipt. The trappers sold the monkeys to someone in Los Angeles or Miami, and Herzog came to the airport just as the monkeys were being loaded to be shipped out of the country. He pretended to be a veterinarian and claimed that the monkeys needed vaccinations before leaving the country. Abashedly, the handlers unloaded the monkeys, and Herzog loaded them into his jeep and drove away, used them in the shot they were required for, and released them afterwards into the jungle
