AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD
“Aguirre, The Wrath of God” was the first Herzog film that I ever saw. It reminded me of “The Mosquito Coast”, as a crazed man believes that he can become God if he keeps pushing his men. Aguirre believes that he will find El Dorado, but he knows that his men might lead a possible mutiny. Aguirre watches as the dreams of gold begin to corrupt his crew, all the while they keep moving further down the river to their goal. There are tips o’ the hat made to Hearts of Darkness, but Herzog’s finger prints are all over the picture. Especially when they arrive in the Kingdom of Monkeys near the end.
The film comes with two commentary tracks with one of them being in German. It’s a neat trick, but for an American release…I fear that disc space was being wasted. A foreign language track is neat for a film, but it seems wasted on a commentary. I’m not sure if half a gig would’ve improved the transfer, but it couldn’t have hurt. That being said, if you were already complaining about the standalone Nosferatu release, then this won’t make you happy.