Cobra Verde

Cobra Verde
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Werner Herzog
Produced by	Lucki Stipetić
Screenplay by	Werner Herzog
Based on	The Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin
Starring	Klaus Kinski José Lewgoy
Music by	Popol Vuh
Cinematography	Viktor Růžička
Edited by	Maximiliane Mainka
Distributed by	Werner Herzog Filmproduktion
Release date	December 3, 1987
Running time	111 min.
Country	West Germany
Language	German

Cobra Verde (also known as Slave Coast) is a 1987 German drama film directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski. It was based upon Bruce Chatwin's 1980 novel, The Viceroy of Ouidah. The film depicts the life of a fictional slave trader. It was filmed on location in Brazil, Colombia and Ghana.

Francisco Manoel da Silva (Klaus Kinski) is a debauched Brazilian rancher who reluctantly goes to work at a gold mining company after his ranch is ruined by drought. When he discovers that he is being financially exploited, he murders his boss and goes on the lam to pursue a career as an outlaw. He becomes the notorious Cobra Verde (Green Snake), the most vicious bandit of the sertão.

In his travels, da Silva encounters and subdues an escaped slave, an act that impresses wealthy sugar baron Don Octávio Coutinho (José Lewgoy). Don Coutinho, unaware that he is dealing with the legendary bandit, hires da Silva to oversee the slaves on his sugar plantation. When da Silva subsequently impregnates all three of the Don's daughters, the sugar baron is furious, but the situation becomes even more complicated when he discovers that da Silva is none other than the infamous Cobra Verde.

As punishment, rather than kill him or have him prosecuted, Don Coutinho decides to send da Silva on the impossible mission of re-opening the slave trade with Western Africa. The bandit is aware he is likely to be killed in Africa, but accepts anyway. He travels by sea to Dahomey, West Africa, where he must negotiate with the fearsome King Bossa Ahadee of Dahomey (played by His Honor the Omanhene Nana Agyefi Kwame II of Nsein, a village north of the city of Axim, Ghana).