Aguirre, the Wrath of God

Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Original German theatrical release film poster
Directed by	Werner Herzog
Produced by	Werner Herzog
Written by	Werner Herzog
Starring	Klaus Kinski Helena Rojo Ruy Guerra Del Negro
Music by	Popol Vuh
Cinematography	Thomas Mauch
Edited by	Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus
Production company	Werner Herzog Filmproduktion Hessischer Rundfunk (HR) (co-production)
Distributed by	Werner Herzog Filmproduktion
Release date	29 December 1972 (1972-12-29)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	West Germany
Language	English (dubbed: German)
Budget	US$370,000

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (German: Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes), known in the UK as Aguirre, Wrath of God, is a 1972 West German epic film written and directed by Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski stars in the title role. The soundtrack was composed and performed by West German progressive/Krautrock band Popol Vuh. The story follows the travels of Spanish soldier Lope de Aguirre, who leads a group of conquistadores down the Orinoco and Amazon River in South America in search of the legendary city of gold, El Dorado. Using a minimalist story and dialogue, the film creates a vision of madness and folly, counterpointed by the lush but unforgiving Amazonian jungle. Although based loosely on what is known of the historical figure of Aguirre, the film's storyline is, as Herzog acknowledged years after the film's release, a work of imagination. Some of the people and situations may have been inspired by Gaspar de Carvajal's account of an earlier Amazonian expedition, although Carvajal was not on the historical voyage represented in the film. Other accounts state that the expedition went into the jungles but never returned to civilization.

Aguirre was the first of five collaborations between Herzog and the volatile Kinski. The director and the actor had differing views as to how the role should be played, and they clashed throughout filming; Kinski's tantrums terrorized both the crew and the local natives who were assisting the production. Shooting was entirely on location, and was fraught with difficulties. Filming took place in the Peruvian rainforest on the Amazon River during an arduous five-week period, shooting on tributaries of the Ucayali region. The cast and crew climbed mountains, cut through heavy vines to open routes to the various jungle locations, and rode treacherous river rapids on rafts built by natives.