Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Don Lope de Aguirre	Klaus Kinski	½
Inez	Helena Rojo
Brother Gaspar de Carvajal	Del Negro	½
Don Pedro de Ursua	Ruy Guerra	½
Don Fernando de Guzman	Peter Berling
Flores	Cecilia Rivera
Okello	Edward Rowland

Review

Klaus Kinski's powerhouse performance is the zenith of this moody, atmospheric and at times breathtakingly photographed historically inspired account about a group of Spanish conquistadors locked in an ill-fated search for El Dorado – a promised land ostensibly filled with gold. Considering Werner Herzog's ambition and the piece's allegoric potential, it is a surprise to find such obvious weaknesses as are present here. The drama is erratic and the interpersonal elements are underdeveloped – most characters and situations just appear, they are not given time to come to life. Of course, Herzog is mostly interested in death, and through Kinski and a great soundtrack by Popol Vuh, we are taken on a downward spiral which could have been enormously haunting with a bit more vigilant direction. The reported power struggle on location between Herzog and Kinski seems to have been won by the latter, who presents an idiosyncratic megalomaniac with a staggering walk and wild eyes which harbour far more than this film is able to cover. Released with both a German and an English language track – both of which are unsatisfactory.