Review of Cobra Verde (1987) by Pedro R — 20 Feb 2010

Perhaps the most tragic of the Kinski/Herzog protagonists, even more so than Woyzeck. If Woyzeck is a man beaten down on all sides by society, than Cobra Verde (real name Francisco Manoel da Silva) is a man destroyed by his own sheer intensity - not unlike Kinski himself, really. I didn't totally agree with some of the screenwriting decisions (namely in terms of plot developments), but in a way I realize these are irrelevant. This is not a film about plot but about a man - an absolute character study. I think the most important moment of the film is actually near the beginning, when Franciso shakes the hand of the innkeeper and says something like, "I've never had a friend in my life. Farewell." It is one of the most haunting lines ever delivered by Kinski, and certainly one of Herzog's most touching scenes.

While not my favorite of the Herzog/Kinski canon, I'd still rank it alongside Fitzcarraldo in terms of greatness. Much like that film, this shows Kinski at his most human.