Review of Fitzcarraldo (1982) by Ross L — 08 May 2008

Herzog's iconic epic is not merely great for the astounding feat of engineering that was filmed for its climax (the scenes of the ship being moved over the mountain make for some of the finest pure cinema you'll ever see), nor for star Klaus Kinski's wild-eyed, white-suited hero...

Its impact derives from its talismanic expression of colonialism's bizarre madness and excess, the inherent, unnatural eccentricity of Fitzcarraldo's project standing in for the similar qualities of the colonial project. And the natives' gnomic role in the massive portage adds an element of ambiguity to the proceedings. To what extent, in both Herzog's myth of colonialism and the real thing, did the belief-systems of indigenous peoples enable their exploitation, and how did those beliefs preserve some slice of their cultural uniqueness?

Academic questions aside, this is an often astounding epic film, cinema at its purest and most effective. A real spectacle with a brain in its head...