Review of Fitzcarraldo: 25th Anniversary Edition

Introduction

Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski. Two names that are synonymous with quality cinema. Well, to most that is. I`d obviously heard of both men, but I`d never seen any of their films and was only vaguely aware of Kinski`s rather tortured reputation. So Fitzcarraldo is actually my first exposure to this duo and what an introduction it was…

The Fitzcarraldo of the title is actually a man named Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (Klaus Kinski), born of Irish descent with a Germanic accent and a bit of a dreamer. He`s married to Molly (Claudia Cardinale), a brothel madam who believes wholeheartedly in her husband`s dreams, despite the fact they`re completely bonkers and have already bankrupted him once.

Fitzcarraldo is an ideas man and a huge opera fan, namely Caruso. His last big idea was an Amazonian railway that failed abysmally and now he has an idea to build a grand opera house in the Amazonian jungle and attract Caruso to it to sing.

In order to fund this wild idea, Fitzcarraldo buys a large plot of land that is inaccessible by river due to the rapids of the Pongo das Mordes. Still, he has a plan. He gets his wife to buy him a boat, does it up and then plans to sail up a parallel river and then at the point where the two rivers are the shortest distance apart, he will attempt to pull the boat over the mountain to the other river. If he succeeds, then he will be able to found a rubber plantation on his new plot of land and thus get very rich and in a position to fund his dream.

It won`t be easy though and he will need help from the local natives, who are both mysterious and deadly in equal measure by reputation.

Video

Picture quality is mostly good, although some of the long-distance jungle shots are a little fuzzy and grainy. The overall look is quite spectacular though and also very realistic. For example, most of the crew of the boat are wearing white, but their clothes all end up mud smeared and stay that way, in fact the only thing that stays bright white and unspoiled are Kinski`s teeth…

Audio

Choice between English Stereo, English 5.1 or German 5.1. The film was shot in English, but only because Kinski was the only member of the cast who spoke German. Herzog himself believes, though, that the German dubbed version is the definitive version and thus could well explain why the subtitles don`t always reflect the actual English dialogue.

Features

The main extra is the previously stand-alone documentary Burden of Dreams by Les Blank. 90 minutes long, Blank followed Herzog and his crew during the filming of Fitzcarraldo and documented the various problems that they faced. This is provided with a Stereo soundtrack and the only subtitles are partial ones already imbedded.

Trailer

Commentary track with Herzog and producer being interviewed really, quite informative if seeming a little laboured (to my tastes, anyway…).

Photo Gallery

The few remaining extras are all text based, there`s film notes and then biographies of Herzog, Kinski and Claudia Cardinale.

Conclusion

To be honest, I wasn`t really sure just what to expect from this. The artwork on the promo disc looks like a really bad 70`s disaster movie, and despite what I`ve read about the making of the film itself, this is anything but. The best way to describe this film is probably a triumph of will. The crux of this film is about following your dreams and trying to make them real, no matter how outlandish they are. Thing is, the central dream held by Fitzcarraldo also echoes the dream of Herzog in making this film. In a well documented and laboured production, Herzog really did pull the boat over the mountain and it`s a joy to watch.

Kinksi is a complete lunatic in this film, eyes dancing and hair ruffled, you really do believe he`s a mad man. A performance that truly makes the film, and all the more remarkable when you consider that Kinksi wasn`t Herzog`s first choice for the role. Cardinale is only really in the first act, but she also lights up the screen as the woman who truly believes in her man. In both cases, it`s the eyes that capture the performance more than anything. They are both superb.

This is a superb film that might ordinarily have attracted an audience upon release anyway, but the inclusion of Burden Of Dreams on this 25th Anniversary edition of Fitzcarraldo makes this release quite special indeed. And I say this as a Herzog beginner.

What is clear once you`ve seen both the film and the documentary is that it was a bit of a miracle that this film was made at all. I`m aware of the problems that befell Apocalypse Now, although not in great detail, but this seems to be a fairly similar story. Forty per cent of the film was made with both Jason Robards and Mick Jagger (yes, him) in the main roles before both had to drop out, forcing Herzog to effectively start all over again; Robards with bad dysentery and Jagger due to an impending tour with the Rolling Stones. Then once Kinski was on board, there were still more problems. Political, logisitical, natural and practical problems all played a part. It would have been easier to give up than persevere, but all credit to Herzog and his crew/cast, they really pulled off something special.

There`s a good quote by Herzog that kind of sums up this whole film: "Without dreams we would be cows in a field, and I don`t want to live like that." Long live the dreamers…