Aguirre: The Wrath of God

Released Apr 3, 1972

1h 34m

Adventure

List

96%

Tomatometer

53 Reviews

91%

Audience Score

10,000+ Ratings

Don Lope de Aguirre (Klaus Kinski), a ruthless Spanish conquistador, vies for power while part of an expedition in Peru to find El Dorado, the mythical seven cities of gold. Accompanied by his daughter, Flores (Cecilia Rivera), Aguirre faces off against his superior, Don Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra), and grows increasingly volatile after seizing control of the group. As Aguirre presses deeper into the Amazonian jungle, he descends further into madness.

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Critics Consensus

A haunting journey of natural wonder and tangible danger, Aguirre transcends epic genre trappings and becomes mythological by its own right.

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Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

It's a descent into madness as vertiginous as Heart of Darkness, and a portrait of futility as monumental in its irony as Shelley's Ozymandias.

Apr 30, 2024

Full Review

Roger Clarke

Independent (UK)

Never has human folly seemed so vivid, rapacious and primeval.

Apr 30, 2024

Full Review

James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Aguirre is a compelling piece of historical fiction that lingers in the memory largely because of its lush, claustrophobic atmosphere and the towering presence of Kinski.

Rated: 3/4

Oct 1, 2018

Full Review

Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

Cosmic objets d’art...

Nov 10, 2023

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Aguirre, the Wrath of God shows Herzog's mutual affection and abhorrence for Nature, how it remains ambivalent to human desire and cruel to our often maniacal ambitions.

Rated: 4/4

Feb 14, 2022

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Sarah Brinks

Battleship Pretension

I love how Herzog uses the Spanish characters to point out how absurd their conquest is.

Apr 1, 2021

Full Review

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Lars N

It's a little one-sided but captivating nonetheless.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/14/23

Full Review

Charles S

The plot is pretty silly with only caricatures to show off how corrupt the group is, but who knows maybe that is just how twisted people were there at that time. The only parts of the film I can recommend are the wardrobes and the depiction of the natives and their pan flute man

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/24/23

Full Review

Retro C

One of Werner Herzog's most famous films to date, Aguirre, The Wrath Of God was released in 1972 and starred Klaus Kinski as unhinged conquistador Aguirre who slowly comes to lead a small expedition, an offshoot of the one led by explorer Pizarro, towards El Dorado (the elusive "City Of Gold") but, more likely, towards desperation and folly. Werner Herzog's first collaboration with Klaus Kinski was famously a lot more explosive behind the scenes than it was on screen. The troubled actor's performance as Aguirre, in the movie itself, was brilliantly quiet and intense, save for a few short outbursts. But, along with a tough jungle setting to approach, Herzog had to deal with Kinski's constant, very vocal protests and creative differences. That Aguirre, The Wrath Of God was made at all is a miracle, especially on such a low budget. The film follows a large group of conquistadors and enslaved indigenous people as they set out to find the City Of Gold in what is very clearly a lost cause that can only end in misery. Aguirre is second in command for most of the film and he even appoints a man named Guzmán to be the first Emperor of El Dorado and lead the much smaller group there after he stages a mutiny. Herzog's stunning, purposely tight yet wide opening shot sets the stage perfectly for the director's vision of the events depicted in the film: an uncomfortable, chaotic, poetically doomed descent into madness. Pizarro's expedition works as a microcosm of a civilization desperately in search of glory, validation or simply meaning which is too rotten at the core, too chaotic and lost to ever truly get there. Aguirre's actions are calculated but his overall goal turns out to be even crazier than the original plan and the result is exactly what it was always going to be. Werner Herzog's film is a typically strange tale with some fantastic lead performances, excellent writing, absurdist splashes of irony and a mood unlike any other. Here is a low-budget film about Spanish conquistadors dubbed in German with several non-actors in the cast and yet you buy it totally. Through Aguirre, The Wrath Of God, Werner Herzog explores different facets of our society from tyrannical leaders to religion, slavery and how destructive its so-called evolution can be. This remains one of Herzog's masterpieces and Kinski's most memorable performance. Unforgettable.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/12/23

Full Review

Jeffrey L

Many years ago I went to my school movie club (screen pulled down in the Biology Lab) with no idea which film they were going to show. The lights went out then suddenly there was that extraordinary first scene, the mountains, the jungle, the armoured conquistadors struggling up the precipitous tracks...and I was hooked. Have been ever since on a film which is unique, magnificent, bizarre and unforgettable.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/30/23

Full Review

georgan g

Unsure why this film got such rave reviews. It is very beautiful cinematography, but the plot isn't great. As an older film, there was no humane society oversight or the horse & monkeys wouldn't have been so mistreated. Hated all that, had to avert my eyes!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It would be hard to describe the experience of a Herzog film to someone who hasn't seen one; the viewer feels as though they are witnessing an event that is in the process of organically unfolding, and there is always the suspicion that Herzog is spontaneously paving the way as he goes. This is especially true of "Aguirre the Wrath of God," the result of which is particularly harrowing given the obviously genuine dangers encountered by the film's beleaguered performers under the guise of medieval fiction. While Herzog's work grasps at what he refers to as "ecstatic truth," the truth encountered here is typically cold, hard and immediate. We witness not only the unraveling of a work with a basis in historical fact, but also a more immediately palpable documentary of the travails of the filmmaker, actors and crew. What emerges is a remarkably austere work suffused with an almost merciless level of hushed solemnity as the conquistadors (and perhaps performers themselves) defiantly navigate their way towards oblivion under the protective umbrella of delusions of grandeur.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

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Werner Herzog

Director

Klaus Kinski

Don Lope de Aguirre

Ruy Guerra

Don Pedro de Ursua

Helena Rojo

Inez

Del Negro

Brother Gaspar de Carvajal

Cecilia Rivera

Flores

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Synopsis

Don Lope de Aguirre (Klaus Kinski), a ruthless Spanish conquistador, vies for power while part of an expedition in Peru to find El Dorado, the mythical seven cities of gold. Accompanied by his daughter, Flores (Cecilia Rivera), Aguirre faces off against his superior, Don Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra), and grows increasingly volatile after seizing control of the group. As Aguirre presses deeper into the Amazonian jungle, he descends further into madness.

Director: Werner Herzog
Screenwriter: Werner Herzog
Distributor: New Yorker Films
Production Co: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Hessischer Rundfunk
Genre: Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 3, 1972, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 15, 2017
Runtime: 1h 34m

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