
PopGap #07: Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972)
Written by dorrk | 21 July 2015 |
The Flickchart 150: Movies so great, that we’ve missed or forgotten them; #04/17
Global Flickchart Rank: #123
My Flickchart Rank: #880
Werner Herzog is one of those directors I'm going to be coming up against frequently during PopGap, as his films are highly regarded and I have seen very few of them. A few months back I appreciated but didn't like The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, and now it's my turn to appreciate and sort of like Aguirre: Wrath of God.
In the 16th century, as Spanish explorers made common practice of plundering South America in search of riches, Lope de Aguirre set himself apart from commonplace conquistadors by renouncing Spain and seeking the mythical gold city of El Dorado on his own. In Herzog's telling of this final chapter in Aguirre's story, Klaus Kinski stars as the self-appointed "Wrath of God," leading a handful of fellow renegades down a river of madness that leads to futility and despair rather than fame and glory.
There are a lot of typical Herzog hallmarks in Aguirre: the Wrath of God (at least, they're typical in the four Herzog dramas I've seen): long, languid shots; an eccentric central performance; and, most notably, the almost constant assault from nature on the humans foolish enough to expose themselves to its unforgiving whims. I like all of these things, and I like the way Herzog does them, so why am I always only ever, at best, half-impressed with his movies?
I think my problem with Herzog is that, despite employing aesthetics and some other quirks that are right up my alley, I find his movies to be rather simple-minded and obvious. In Aguirre: Wrath of God he gives us the story of a crazed, glory-hungry zealot whose mania leads him and those who follow him to their doom. Even only spread out to a mere 94 minutes, this is a concept that needs some narrative expansion to engross and challenge me. Instead, Herzog pads the time with lots of lyrical footage of nature and Kinski standing slant-wise and staring goonily into the void of his own soul. I'd like more than that, but Herzog seems to prefer to come up with a concept that brings great physical challenges and then coast through the creative part.
Like Kaspar Hauser and Fitzcarraldo (which is admittedly hazy for me after 20+ years), Aguirre is highly celebrated, and I understand why, but it doesn't really work for me. However, Aguirre is the most immediate of his movies that I've seen so far, and as Kaspar Hauser has stuck with me and grown a bit in my estimation since I watched it in May, maybe Aguirre will do the same.
Trailer for Aguirre: the Wrath of God (1972)

Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972)
More info
I have reviews posted for all the movies on this blog, and live-tweeted most viewings here:
https://twitter.com/popgap
Our very young Youtube channel is here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI2fy3vQn-Q2-82002Fz63g
This list is posted to Letterboxd, here:
https://letterboxd.com/dorrk/list/popgap-2015-07-flickcharts-top-10-i-havent/
You can keep track of my Flickchart here:
http://www.flickchart.com/Charts.aspx?user=dorrk
TL/DR
-
Movie:Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972)
-
Dir.:Werner Herzog
-
Rating:6/10
Tags
Related Articles
Latest Articles
-
Silver Screen Streak List #24: The Best Crime Thrillers I Haven't Seen
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2023 has been put down
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2023
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: 04. Invention for Destruction (1958)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: 03. Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: 02. Hellzapoppin' (1941)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: 01. The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1962)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: 05. The Hippopotamus (2017)
POPGAP Projects
-
Silver Screen Streak List #24: The Best Crime Thrillers I Haven't Seen
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2023 has been put down
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2023
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: The 28 best films of all time you've probably never seen
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2022 is all Oct-Over now, Baby Blue
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2022
-
Silver Screen Streak List #21: Dramas of the 1940s
-
Popgap Diary: 2021 in Review
Popular Articles
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2019
-
Introducing the Silver Screen Streak movie challenge
-
Octoblur 2017: Annual Horror-ish Movie Nightmare-a-thon
-
PopGap #08 Re-cap: Comedies Since 1970
-
Octoblur 2017: R.I.P.!
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2020
-
Octoblur 2015 - It's Over!
-
PopGap #19: Movie Books Special Report
-
Popgap Diary: 2019 in Review