Review of Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) by Scott R — 17 Feb 2018

A classic long on my watchlist. Lots of inspiration here from Heart of Darkness and (therefore and obviously) itself a great source of inspiration for Kubrick's Apocalypse Now. Werner Herzog is well-regarded and Kinski's almost eccentric, if not outright eery, intensity (hey comes across to me almost reminiscent of the mannerisms of a Mussolini) delivers a memorable character performance. The overall haunting quality of the film as a whole is dreamlike in it's delivery, but dark in its implications of human nature and especially in larger context of the natural world itself which both surrounds and spawned that nature.

Removed from the historical context and cinematic importance and its potent subtexts, the film itself has not aged very well. An irreverent viewer or an inattentive viewing would result in a poor experience and a lot of questions about the high praise this film carries. Compounded by less than stellar supporting performances and special effects work, the film does have some flaws in need of forgiveness or overlooking in order to appreciate it for the classic it is and understand why it truly is deserving of the reputation which precedes it.