Review of Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) by Michael C — 12 Jun 2009

I know if the question ever came up who should play a maniacal spanish conquistador, the first name i'd think of is klaus kinski. it's not at all incongruous to see a spaniard rasping out his orders in an oddly high pitched and throaty german. none of which is a criticism, really, it's just a bit weird.

Being partly of filipino descent, there was a familiarity to a band of soldiers, clergy, nobles, and assorted riffraff -- most of them maniacs -- clomping through some far flung village, laying dubious claim to lands and properties, justifiable only through violence, murder and subjugation (as all inconceivably grand, and therefore legitimate, thefts are carried out), all the while decrying the heathen savagery of their victims, slaves and prisoners.

River raft scenes bear more than a passing resemblance to "apocalypse now," as do some of the points made by the title character about the legitimacy of power and the occupation, but it diverges at the conclusion.