Aguirre, the Wrath of God

The blending of the reality of filming with the story being told is palpable here. An obsessed Herzog drags an exhausted film crew through the Peruvian jungle, capturing their exhaustion and setting it in the context of the universal futility and doom of human ambition. And in the process, he and Kinski fight over a gun. God knows how many people actually died in the making of this film; and sometimes you never find out. If Coppola was inspired by Aguirre when making Apocalypse Now, he couldn't have been surprised that it went the way it did. (22/03/2021)

This is a film that definitely won't appeal to everyone, but thanks to how confident Werner Herzog is in his directing and how unique Klaus Kinski is in his performance, I have to admit that this is simply a movie that is worth seeing. Some scenes - which were filmed in Peru - are truly beautifully grand and cameraman Thomas Mauch deserves applause. (20/08/2015)

I first got a taste of the creative chemistry between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski in Nosferatu, and Aguirre, The Wrath of God is similar. As in Nosferatu, the director got me with the very first scene, which features a monumental shot of the entire expedition walking through the forest. I have no complaints about the music, even though it was a bit monotonous, it still served its purpose perfectly. I was very impressed by the cinematography, where besides the shots of natural scenery there are also various details from handheld camera and overall it evoked the atmosphere of a documentary at times. As I noted at the beginning, Kinski as Aguirre was perfect (he has an incredible charisma) and Herzog convinced me once again that he is a quality director. (01/12/2011)

Aguirre, Wrath of God and the madness of one man. Just a perfect creation, which immediately made me appreciate the collaboration between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski. They both did their job flawlessly, and those who disagree will be cut into 198 pieces and stepped over until they become paint for the walls! (25/04/2018)

Herzog captures how a quest for fame and immeasurable wealth turns into a manic depressive pilgrimage in a very believable way, relying on basic filmmaking techniques, simple camera rides and shots of beautiful sceneries, next to which he let the crazy face of the insane Klaus Kinski stand out, which in this case was really worth a thousand words. The thought that the likes of Iñárritu and Emmanuel Lubezki could have extracted much more voluminous cinematic art from the subject matter weighs on me, but even the minimalist Aguirre is an ageless visionary work with its aggressive psychological approach... 80% (02/02/2016)