What was your reaction to viewing “Aguirre, Wrath of God”? Explain why you have the reaction and, using Roger Ebert’s review as a guide, comment on something he has said in your reaction.
NOTE: Please bring a copy of your comment on paper and, ideally, on your flash drive since our Internet access is down due to vandalism at the portables over the weekend.
“I believe he wants his audiences to feel like detached observers, standing outside time, saddened by the immensity of the universe as it bears down on the dreams and delusions of man.”—Roger Ebert
ReplyDeleteIndeed, that’s exactly how I felt, much as if I were looking over the shoulders of the men and women on that ill-fated raft. The film, “Aguirre, Wrath of God” is like nothing I have ever seen before. How immense that jungle must have seemed to the Spaniards who sought El Dorado—immense and unforgiving— as arrows and darts fly from the forest into the heads and necks and backs of men. Klaus Kinski could not have been better in his role as a maddened conquistador, his blue eyes flashing, his imperial manner appearing both insane and supremely confident at the same time. Ebert calls him “crucial” and I have to agree. I am most haunted by the sight of Inez as she marches into the jungle in her palace finery to a certain death at the hands of the Indians. A visual feast, I lose count of the memorable scenes, each one unique, but the one of the raft in the eddy, circling without a chance of escape, certainly set the tone for the film to come. Facing our own catastrophe in climate change, I am haunted by the idea that we are much like Aguirre in our unwillingness to admit to any weakness. Our delusions are indeed well presented in Herzog’s masterful film.
“Aguirre, The Wrath of God” is very interesting movie that is full of hate. It would be one of the worst movie I have ever seen if I would watch it with friends on Friday’s night. I will never forget the face of Klaus Kinski, full of fear. As Ebert mentioned that “the film is not driven by character except for Aguirre, whose personality is created as much by Kinski’s face and body as by words.” The vagueness of occurring death and event was hateful. Ebert is commented, “Death occurs mostly off-screen in the film, or swiftly and silently.” And if i would watch it without subtitle or in a different language I could not understand the purpose of the film.
ReplyDelete