AGUIRRE, WRATH OF GOD

(A.k.a. AGUIRRE THE WRATH OF GOD; AGUIRRE DER ZORN GOTTES)

The lengths man will go to in pursuit of riches …

1650. The deepest recesses of Amazonia. A group of Spanish conquistadors are first seen scaling a perilous mountain on a misty morning. The reason for their persistence is simple: they have been commissioned with locating El Dorado, the mythical city of gold.

The treasure hunters are initially led by Pizarro (Alejandro Repulles) but he calls it a day when he and his men reach exhaustion point in Peru. Pizarro orders three of his trustiest officers, Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra), Fernando de Guzman (Peter Berling) and Lope Aguirre (Klaus Kinski) to continue the quest.

This they do, taking to rafts and making their way down the Amazonian river with a small group of fellow explorers at their side. Aguirre, an intense megalomaniac hell-bent on finding the pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow, also has his daughter Flores (Cecilia Rivera) accompany him on the journey – providing what may or may not be incestuous comfort …

Along the way, this intrepid group will encounter disease, starvation, local cannibals and more. But nothing is quite a threat as Aguirre himself, a man who quickly takes charge of the expedition and is willing to slaughter anyone who challenges his word.

Not one to do things by half-measures (employing an entire cast of little people in EVEN DWARFS STARTED SMALL; genuinely negotiating a huge boat over a mountain for FITZCARRALDO), German auteur Werner Herzog filmed AGUIRRE on location in the heart of the Amazonian jungle.

Furthermore, considering the less-than-comfortable shooting arrangements and the fact that he had the supremely volatile Kinski to contend with – their rocky relationship over the course of the five films they made together is the stuff of legend – Herzog then opted to shoot the film back-to-back in both English and German language versions. Madness. Genius.

The end results are nothing short of brilliant. AGUIRRE is a masterpiece of stunning visuals, surreal imagery (the monkeys, anyone?!), emotional intensity and unfurling commentary in fundamental human conditions such as greed, ambition and obsessiveness. It’s rarely been equalled in cinema and stands to this day, 35 years after its inception, as a film that still rewards repeat viewings.

Kinski’s performance is as arresting as the Amazon scenery, his wild blue eyes and tight facial expressions perfectly conveying the insanity that envelopes his character as his quest spirals into darkness. He’s mesmerising, this role being perhaps the pinnacle of his very impressive career.

Popol Vuh deserve recognition too for their evocative, occasionally haunting score that really does enhance each scene that utilises it. Their unconventional approach to scoring is an ideal bedfellow to Herzog’s fusion of documentary-style realism and the fantastic.

Perfectly paced, aesthetically breath-taking on a consistent basis and ultimately invigorating – right down to the startling final shot, which would barely be possible today – AGUIRRE, WRATH OF GOD is an enduring classic the likes of which we’re unlikely to ever see again.

BFI’s region B blu-ray delivers the film uncut in a gorgeous new 1080p HD transfer from the original negative. Newly restored in 4K the film looks tremendous with bold colours, deep contrasting blacks and shadows, a fine filmic texture and striking levels of detail not even approached by previous domestic releases. Presented as an MPEG4-AVC file with an impressive bit-rate (around 30 on average) and in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, AGUIRRE has never looked so good – and I don’t it’ll ever look better.

Both English and German language versions have been seamlessly branched together on this 50gb dual-layer disc. Each is represented by a PCM 1.0 mono track, both of which are clean and consistent propositions. The German track, the preferred of the two, also gets a nicely balanced 5.1 Master Audio mix. Optional English subtitles are well-written and easy to read.

An animated main menu page contains pop-up menus, including a scene selection menu allowing access to the film via 12 chapters.

Extras are amazing.

They begin with an excellent audio commentary track from Herzog and historian Norman Hill. This finds the gently spoken filmmaker in fine form, offering generous insights into the hardships encountered while shooting on location. He’s diplomatic about Kinski but more interested in discussing the themes being explored by his film.

The film’s original theatrical trailer also looks mighty fine in HD and clocks in at just over 3 minutes in length. A 2-minute stills gallery relates directly to AGUIRRE too.

FATA MORGANA is Herzog’s 76-minute film from 1971, taking an almost trance-like look at mirages and the Mayan civilisation with documentary footage and narration as your hosts. It’s good stuff and a worthwhile companion piece to the main feature. This is presented here in its entirety, in 1080p HD, and even comes with its own optional commentary track from Herzog.

Also presented in HD are three short films from Herzog’s early career: THE UNPRECEDENTED DEFENCE OF THE FORTRESS DEUTSCHKREUZ (15 minutes), LAST WORDS (13 minutes) and PRECAUTIONS AGAINST FANATICS (11 minutes). All of these are interesting though a little more experimental in execution. The latter has a lighter, satirical tone and consequently emerges as the most engaging.

Finally there’s a handsomely designed booklet with more nice stills taken from the film’s set, along with a recommended new essay by Laurie Johnston, full film credits and notes on the new transfer.

BFI are releasing AGUIRRE, WRATH OF GOD individually as a Steelbook blu-ray package and also as part of their forthcoming mammoth Herzog retrospective boxset.

Essential stuff.

By Stuart Willis