In 1981 the 39 year old Herzog embarked on a film project that is widely regarded as one of the most difficult productions in the history of cinema. The production was plagued with injuries and actual deaths.
"Fitzcarraldo" (1982)
Directed by Werner Herzog, Written by Werner Herzog, Produced by Werner Herzog. Walter Saxer, Lucki Stipetić &
Jorge Vignatti, Music by Popol Vuh, Cinematography by Thomas Mauch, Edited by Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus, Starring
Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, José Lewgoy, Miguel Ángel Fuentes, Paul Hittscher, Huerequeque Enrique Bohórquez, Grande Otelo & Peter Berling.
Opera-loving European Brian Fitzgerald lives in a small Peruvian city. Better known as Fitzcarraldo, this foreigner is obsessed with building an opera house in his town and decides that to make his dream a reality he needs to make a killing in the rubber business. In order to become a successful rubber baron, Fitzcarraldo hatches an elaborate plan that calls for a particularly impressive feat -- bringing a massive boat over a mountain with the help of a band of natives.
This film is an epic adventure-drama film written, produced, and directed by Werner Herzog.
The story is inspired by a true events, Peruvian rubber baron Carlos Fitzcarrald, who once transported a disassembled steamboat over the 11 km long land bridge between Urubamba River and the Madre de Dios River in Peru.
Herzog's tale concerns Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an Irishman known in Peru as "Fitzcarraldo"
He is obsessed with Opera and a huge fan of Italian tenor Enrico Caruso and he dreams of building an opera house in Iquitos Peru. Although he has unbelievable passion he sadly lacks the capital.
He sets his heart on making his fortune as a rubber baron but the only parcel of land available to him to harvest and cultivate rubber is remote and cut off from the Amazon river so isolated from ports for export by a lengthy section of rapids.
Part of his solution to this issue is to have a three-deck, 320-ton steamship pulled up a massive muddy 40° hillside.
Herzog said that in his story the moving of the ship over the hill is inspired by the engineering feats of ancient civilisations moving gigantic stones to build their monuments.
What is important to highlight is during this production Herzog had people move an actual 320-ton steamship over a hill.
Herzog cast actor Jason Robards as Fitzcarraldo and Mick Jagger at Fitzcarraldo's assistant Wilbur. Principal photography was well underway when Robards contracted dysentery and left the location. His doctors then forbade him to return to Peru to finish the project causing the whole production to stall.
The delay in the shoot meant the clock ran down and Mick Jagger had to quit the film and go back to his day job and Mario Adorf was no longer available to play the role of the ship's captain. Leaving Herzog with a mountain of useless film and roles to recast.
Herzog did pursue Jack Nicholson to play Fitzcarraldo before Klaus Kinski who Herzog had worked with three times before accepted the role.
Werner should have known what he was getting into!
Kinski displayed erratic behavior throughout the production and constantly fought with Herzog and other members of the crew.
While making this film Kinski was a maniac and upset everyone who worked on the film. Herzog has noted that the native extras were greatly upset by the actor's behavior.
In the documentary "My Best Fiend", Herzog says that one of the native chiefs offered, in all seriousness, to kill Kinski for him, but he declined the offer only because he needed the actor to complete the film.
Herzog against all odds did complete the film. Filming in Peru and Brazil.
The film cost 14 million Deutschmarks which was $5.9m in 1982 ($19.2m in 2024)
Due to the level of ambition this production required and the remote locations unfortunately there were numerous injuries and several deaths.
Deaths occurred among the indigenous people who were employed as extras and also worked on the film as laborers. I don't know the details but I feel they died in incidence connected to physically moving an actual 320-ton steamship over a hill... Just a guess!
The production also had Two small plane crashes, which resulted in a number of injuries, including one case of paralysis.
Another incident involved a local Peruvian logger who, after being bitten by a venomous snake, amputated his own foot with a chainsaw so as to prevent the spread of the venom, and he saved his own life.
The film opened on the 5th of March 1982.
Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars in his original 1982 review.
The film went on to come second at the German Film Prize for Best Feature Film.
Herzog won the award for Best Director at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.
The film was shortlisted but not selected to be West Germany's entry to the Oscars.
Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited Fitzcarraldo as one of his favorite films.
High prase!
After you watch Fitzcarraldo I suggest you check out "Burden of Dreams" a documentary directed by Les Blank about the making of Fitzcarraldo and "My Best Fiend" the 1999 documentary made by Herzog that covers is very turbulent working relationship with actor Klaus Kinski.
I just want to add at this point If Werner Herzog had stopped making films after Fitzcarraldo for whatever reason... perhaps because he was murdered by Klaus Kinski. His legacy was set.
If Herzog was a German filmmaker who started making short films and TV documentaries that went on to make, Aguirre, the Wrath of God, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, Heart of Glass, Stroszek, Nosferatu the Vampyre, Woyzeck & Fitzcarraldo he would still be a legendary cult filmmaker but everything he has made up until this point in his filmography in 1982 is only 30% of his total film output up to the present day.
It's strange but it looks like Herzog actually had some time off post Fitzcarraldo. His next film project was something I haven't seen and in all honesty I had never heard of before researching for this blog.
"Where the Green Ants Dream" (1984)
Directed by Werner Herzog, Written by Werner Herzog & Bob Ellis, Produced by Lucki Stipetic, Music by Wandjuk Marika,
Cinematography by Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein,
Edited by Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus,
Starring Bruce Spence, Wandjuk Marika & Roy Marika.
A surveying team led by Australian geologist Lance Hackett is setting off subterranean explosions deep in the outback, searching for possible uranium mining sites. Hackett's work is interrupted by Aboriginals Miliritbi and Dayipu, who claim that green ants dream underneath this land, and, if the insects' slumbers are interrupted, the world will come to an end. The dispute between the two sides becomes both a court case and a philosophical debate.
Partly based on the real life legal case Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd a case regarding Indigenous land rights on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.
This film is a work of fiction penned by Herzog and the green ant mythology is Herzog's own invention but it is based on a belief held by some First Nations peoples.
Herzog cast professional actors, as well as Aboriginal activists from the Northern Territory who were involved in the actual Milirrpum case and Aboriginal people local to the filming locations.
Critics found the film confusing being a feature film made by a documentarian that looks like a documentary about true events but is a work of fiction.
The film was generally poorly-reviewed in Australia a country that has a "complex" attitude regarding the first nation Aboriginal people and took offence at the film showcasing the actual attitude of the Australian Government regarding the rights of these people to have their land.
The film also did not do as well in Germany as Herzog's previous films, but due to his reputation the film was able to get a wide release in North America and Europe.
As I said I haven't seen this but it is rated 3.5 out of 5 on letterboxd so it can't be that bad.
After Where the Green Ants Dream Herzog made,
"Ballad of the Little Soldier" (1984)
A Documentary made for television that he co-directed with Denis Reichle about child soldiers in Nicaragua. runtime 44 minutes
"The Dark Glow of the Mountains" (1985)
A documentary made for television about an expedition made by two mountain climbers who embark on an adventure to climb the mountains Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I all in one trip without returning to base camp.
"Portrait: Werner Herzog" (1986)
A short documentary film directed by Herzog where he narrates the film talking about his early childhood, his love of walking and his love of filmmaking.
Looking into Herzog's bio it was around this time his first marriage broke down and he got a divorce so what is the best thing to do... Make a film with Klaus Kinski obviously!
"Cobra Verde" (1987)
Directed by Werner Herzog, Screenplay by Werner Herzog, Based onthe novel "The Viceroy of Ouidah" by Bruce Chatwin, Produced by Lucki Stipetić & Walter Saxer, Music by Popol Vuh, Cinematography by Viktor Růžička, Edited by Maximiliane Mainka, Starring Klaus Kinski,
King Ampaw, José Lewgoy
Francisco Manoel da Silva an enterprising young Brazilian who, after impregnating the three daughters of his plantation-owning employer, is sent to West Africa to round up slaves. Francisco goes to great lengths to befriend the very people he hopes to enslave, eventually managing to overthrow a mad monarch and set himself up as king.
Cobra Verde (also known as Slave Coast) is a narrative drama film directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski, This was their fifth and final collaboration together.
The film is based on Bruce Chatwin's 1980 novel "The Viceroy of Ouidah" the film tells the story of the a fictional slave trader who travels to the West African kingdom of Dahomey.
The film was shot on location in Ghana, Brazil, and Colombia.
Herzog approached the author Bruce Chatwin about adapting his work into a film and discovered David Bowie had also expressed interest in adapting it as a film, Herzog then raced to acquire the film rights and begin production.
This film is most famous for the whole Herzog/Kinski dynamic but it is a really good film in it's own right that suffers from being overshadowed by the pairs previous collaborations Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) & Fitzcarraldo (1982). It is currently rated at 3.6 out of 5 on Letterboxd based on over seven thousand ratings.
Werner followed Cobra Verde with two documentary projects...
"Herdsmen of the Sun" (1989)
The film explores the social rituals and cultural celebrations of the Saharan nomadic Wodaabe tribe. Particular focus is given to the Gerewol celebration, which features an elaborate male beauty contest to win wives.
"Echoes from a Sombre Empire" (1990)
A very different format of documentary for Herzog's the film does not include any narration or commentary by Herzog himself. Instead, the film follows journalist Michael Goldsmith as he revisits the Central African Republic, where he was imprisoned and tortured by Bokassa's regime.
"Scream of Stone"(1991)
Directed by Werner Herzog, Written by Hans-Ulrich Klenner, Walter Saxer & Robert Geoffrion, Produced by Walter Saxer, Henri Lange & Richard Sadler, Cinematography by Rainer Klausmann, Edited by Suzanne Baron, Starring Vittorio Mezzogiorno,
Stefan Glowacz, Mathilda May, Donald Sutherland,
Brad Dourif, Al Waxman, Chavela Vargas, Hans Kammerlander & Volker Prechtel.
Two champion climbers, young Martin and experienced Roger, compete to be the first to conquer a daunting snow-covered peak.
The film is based on the supposed first conquest of the summit of Cerro Torre in 1959 by the Italian climber Cesare Maestri and his partner, the Austrian Toni Egger.
Cerro Torre is a mountain of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in Argentina and has the reputation of being one of the most difficult climbs in the world due to erratic weather conditions and the lack of a clear ascent route.
Maestri's partner, Toni Egger died during the descent in 1959.
Maestri's claim that he made it to the summit was later challenged as he failed to give substantial proof that he reached the summit.
The script for this film was mostly written by longtime Herzog production manager Walter Saxer, based on an idea from mountaineer Reinhold Messner, who was the subject of Herzog's documentary "The Dark Glow of the Mountains" (1985).
Herzog himself has expressed mixed feelings about the film he has said that he thinks the script was weak, especially the dialogue, and even commented that he didn't consider Scream of Stone to one of his film.
He is proud of the praised the mountain climbing sequences of the film for being
"the most impressive thing you can see on screen, much more than anything in a Hollywood blockbuster"
In the film Stefan Glowacz climbed the mountain in single takes without safety lines.
Scream of Stone (1991) was the last narrative film Herzog will make for 10 years.
over the previous 29 years Werner had made short films, feature films and documentaries but his documentaries were made for television with a runtime of 45 minutes. In the nineties Herzog transitioned to pretty much exclusively making documentary films this move will significantly shape the next 30+ years of his career.
End of Part Three
