Review of Burden of Dreams (1982) by Eric F — 18 Mar 2009

To what lengths can you justify going to in order to satisfy your own vision? Werner Herzog is certainly among the most interesting of all filmmakers, and in "Burden of Dreams" we get a glimpse at what it took to create the legendary film known as "Fitzcarraldo".

Herzog's film, starring Klaus Kinski, is about an Irish dreamer who wishes to build an opera house in the Amazon jungle. To accumulate the funds, he takes advantage of the booming rubber business and buys a patch of land that is unreachable due to unnavigable rapids. Fitzcarraldo finds his way around that, however - by trekking down an adjacent tributary, he can drag his boat, intact, over a mountain and arrive at his destination on the other side. Thanks to the help of the natives, he succeeds, however they also untie his boat while he's sleeping and therefore Fitzcarraldo is sent down the rapids he had worked so hard to avoid. His mission fails. In the end of the film, we see him salvage the experience by bringing an opera to what is left of his boat.

"Fitzcarraldo" started shooting in November of 1979 with Jason Robards as the title character. Their initial location was Paraquitos in Peru, however due to a border war between Peru and Ecuador it was deemed no longer safe to shoot in. The crew moved to Iquitos, but after almost half of the film had finished shooting, Jason Robards became terribly sick and could not finish the production. Worse yet, Robards' co-star, Mick Jagger (yes, that Mick Jagger), had to leave for a concert tour. The film is scrapped, and Herzog begins to re-shoot with Klaus Kinski in 1981, whom he had already collaborated with in the past in films such as "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" and "Nosferatu". Herzog struggles with the shallow waters, leaving his boat immobile, as well as sickness and even death before the film is complete.

The film, at the very least, is an exceptional postcard of the Amazon. It's also moreso about the natives themselves than Herzog. Although Herzog pays them well, we must ask ourselves whether the toll it took on the them was worth it. Not only is one of them killed by bow and arrow by a neighboring tribe during shooting, but a few are nearly crushed to death when the boat slides back down the mountain while it's being pulled.

The film also becomes even richer with an environmental message. The narrator estimates that the Amazon jungles will be gone by 2010. We certainly know that they remain to some extent, however it does serve as an exceptional cautionary tale about the footprint we're leaving on the world. Meeting the people of the land is a far more compelling argument in favor of the green movement than most of what we see today.

"Burden of Dreams" is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look that provides insight to what has to be one of the more daunting and ambitious filming projects in history. While "Fitzcarraldo" is a very good film, it's this documentary that is ultimately more memorable.