Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (; ; ) is a 1972 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 band Popol Vuh. The film is an international co-production between West Germany and Mexico.
Plot
On Christmas Day, 1560, several scores of Spanish conquistadors, and a hundred native slaves, march down from the newly conquered Inca Empire in the Andes mountains into the jungles to the east, in search of the fabled country of El Dorado. Under the command of Gonzalo Pizarro, the men, clad in half armor, pull cannons down narrow mountain paths and through dense, muddy jungle. On New Year's Eve, reaching the end of his supplies and unable to go on without more information, Pizarro orders a group of forty men to scout ahead by raft down river.
More details
| author | Werner Herzog |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | Amazon Peru |
| director | Werner Herzog |
| editor | Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus |
| genre | adventure drama historical |
| keywords | andes andes mountains armor arrest blasphemy capture conquistador disobeying orders eddy el dorado end gaspar de carvajal gonzalo pizarro habsburg spain hernán cortés inca empire indigenous peoples of the americas kill mexico morning mutiny native new year new year's eve outhouse pedro de ursúa personal armor privy river royal house of spain sailing ship scout second-in-command spaniard spanish starve sweep away teenage daughter terrify trap wooden ship |
| musicBy | Popol Vuh |
| nomination | César Award for Best Foreign Film |
| producer | Werner Herzog |
| productionCompany | Hessischer Rundfunk Werner Herzog Filmproduktion |
| publisher | Filmverlag der Autoren |
| theme | biographical drama conquistadors death epic survival |