Knowra Aguirre, the Wrath of God Aguirre, the Wrath of God Werner Herzog’s 1972 film follows a Spanish expedition into the Amazon led by conquistador Lope de Aguirre, whose quest for El Dorado becomes a descent into obsession and violence.
Lope de Aguirre : A sixteenth-century Spanish conquistador who led a rebellion against Spanish authority in South America. Klaus Kinski’s increasingly unstable performance makes Aguirre the expedition’s center of gravity.
Werner Herzog : A German film director, screenwriter, and producer associated with New German Cinema. He wrote and directed the film, drawing its expedition into his recurring world of obsession and hostile landscapes.
Claudia Cardinale : An Italian-Tunisian actor whose film roles include Claudia in Fitzcarraldo. She plays Inez, the noblewoman accompanying the expedition, in one of her few Herzog films.
The raft scene in Aguirre, the Wrath of God : The film’s closing sequence, in which Aguirre drifts on a raft surrounded by monkeys. Its circular drift and final monologue concentrate the film’s vision of power detached from reality.
El Dorado : A legendary city or kingdom of immense wealth sought by European explorers in South America. The expedition’s pursuit of this imagined wealth gives its disintegration a destination.
New German Cinema : A movement of West German filmmakers that renewed national cinema from the late 1960s through the 1980s. The film emerged within this movement’s break from established postwar German filmmaking.
Ruy Guerra : A Brazilian film director, screenwriter, and actor associated with Cinema Novo. He plays Don Pedro de Ursúa, the expedition’s original leader.
The 1561 trial of Lope de Aguirre : The posthumous Spanish proceedings that condemned Lope de Aguirre for rebellion and treason. The historical record’s judgment contrasts with the film’s focus on Aguirre’s self-fashioned imperial destiny.
Amazon River : The largest river by discharge, flowing across northern South America to the Atlantic Ocean. Its current and surrounding jungle confine the film’s expedition to a relentless downstream passage.
Gaspar de Carvajal : A Dominican friar whose account describes Francisco de Orellana’s sixteenth-century Amazon expedition. His chronicle is among the historical materials associated with the film’s expedition narrative.
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