Aguirre, the Wrath of God

Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Movie poster for the US theatrical release
German	Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes
Directed by	Werner Herzog
Written by	Werner Herzog
Produced by	Werner Herzog Walter Saxer
Starring	Klaus Kinski Helena Rojo Del Negro Ruy Guerra Peter Berling Cecilia Rivera Dany Ades Armando Polanah
Cinematography	Thomas Mauch
Edited by	Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus
Music by	Popol Vuh
Production companies	Werner Herzog Filmproduktion Hessischer Rundfunk
Distributed by	Filmverlag der Autoren[1]
Release date	29 December 1972 (1972-12-29)
Running time	94 minutes
Countries	West Germany[2][3] Mexico Peru[4]
Language	German[5]
Budget	US$370,000[6]

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Spanish: [aˈɣire]; German: Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes; [aˈɡɪʁə deːɐ̯ ˌtsɔʁn ˈɡɔtəs]) is a 1972^[2] epic historical drama film produced, written and directed by Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski stars in the title role of Spanish soldier Lope de Aguirre, who leads a group of conquistadores down the Amazon River in South America in search of the legendary city of gold, El Dorado. The accompanying soundtrack was composed and performed by kosmische musik band Popol Vuh. The film is an international co-production between West Germany and Mexico.

Using a minimalist approach to story and dialogue, the film creates a vision of madness and folly, counterpointed by the lush but unforgiving Amazonian jungle. Although loosely based on what is known of the historical Lope de Aguirre, Herzog acknowledged years after the film's release that its storyline is a work of fiction. Some of the people and situations may have been inspired by missionary Gaspar de Carvajal's account of an earlier Amazonian expedition, although Carvajal never accompanied Aguirre on any of his expeditions.

Aguirre was the first of five collaborations between Herzog and Kinski. They had differing views as to how the role should be played, and they clashed throughout filming; Kinski's rage terrorized both the crew and the locals who were assisting the production. Shooting took place 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 local craftworkers.

Aguirre opened to widespread critical acclaim, and quickly developed a large international cult following. It was given an extensive arthouse theatrical release in the United States in 1977, and remains one of the director's best-known films. Several critics have declared the film a masterpiece, and it has appeared on Time magazine's list of "All Time 100 Best Films".