Aguirre, the Wrath of God - Directed by Werner Herzog- 1972 - 1 Hour 32 minutes

 

Films  by German directors are an essential part of post World War One German Culture. From the groundbreaking silent classics of the Weimar Republic to the movies of Leni Reisenthal in celebration of Nazi rule,  beloved by Goebels, to modern Oscar winners, I am pleased to see German Literature Month XIII now welcomes posts on Films by German Directors.

(YOUTUBE has numerous German films online, often with English Captions) 

 German Literature Month is hosted by Lizzy’s Literary Life

https://lizzysiddal2.wordpress.com/2023/09/22/announcing-german-literature-month-xiii/

Today's film is available on YouTube 

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) is a German-Peruvian epic historical drama film directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski in the title role of Lope de Aguirre, a 16th-century Spanish conquistador who leads a group of soldiers down the Amazon River in search of the legendary city of gold, El Dorado.

The film is a hallucinatory and often disturbing depiction of human nature, exploring themes of greed, ambition, and madness. Kinski gives a tour-de-force performance as Aguirre, a charismatic and ruthless figure who is slowly consumed by his own lust for power.

Aguirre, the Wrath of God is a visually stunning and deeply unsettling film that is considered one of the masterpieces of German cinema. 

"Werner Herzog Stipetić (born September 5, 1942), known professionally as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusual talents in obscure fields, or individuals in conflict with nature. His filmmaking process includes disregarding storyboards, emphasizing improvisation, and placing the cast and crew into similar situations to characters in his films" - From Bard

Earlier in the month I posted on the 1947 film, The End of the River, set in the Brazilian Amazon, Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. I think a joint viewing of these movies would be a valuable classroom experience.   

Mel Ulm