Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Cobra Verde

Play trailer Poster for Cobra Verde Released Jan 1, 1988 1h 50m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
83% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Francisco Manoel da Silva (Klaus Kinski) plays an enterprising young Brazilian who, after impregnating the three daughters of his plantation-owning employer, is sent to West Africa to round up slaves. Francisco goes to great lengths to befriend the very people he hopes to enslave -- eventually managing to overthrow a mad monarch and set himself up as king.

Where to Watch

Cobra Verde

Critics Reviews

View All (18) Critics Reviews
Mark Holcomb Time Out The type of crazed, folkloric epic that Germany's own De Niro-Scorsese duo usually excelled at. Rated: 4/6 Mar 24, 2007 Full Review A.O. Scott New York Times The final third of this film contains sequences of horrifying sublimity and ethereal beauty, moments that have a clarity and power beyond the reach of reason. Rated: 4.5/5 Mar 23, 2007 Full Review J. R. Jones Chicago Reader Verde is too blankly amoral to sustain interest, but the film has isolated moments of haunting poetry. Mar 20, 2007 Full Review Dennis Harvey 48 Hills Kinski lends burning charisma... Nov 10, 2023 Full Review Octavi Marti El Pais (Spain) In Cobra Verde, Herzog is an imitation of himself. [Full Review in Spanish] Apr 7, 2020 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews The underwritten dramatization is saved by the stunning surreal visuals. Rated: B- Jun 6, 2015 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (191) audience reviews
Kevin L There's only one Werner Herzog and perhaps only one Klaus Kinski. This is not one of their finest achievements together, but it has its moments where the film rises above exploitation and formula. The nun's choir is something, esp. the lead. Still not sure what to make of this one. For now, 3 stars Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/27/23 Full Review andy f Wow. For the last time Herzog and Kinski combine and Cobra Verde is equally as good as their other collaborations. Herzog always has a crazy balance - you are never quite sure whether he's highlighting an issue or being (unintentionally perhaps) exploitative. The same questions are always asked of Kinski, who snarls his way through this, one of his last performances. Unforgettable. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review peter w There is no shortage of passion and colour in this film but it all feels strangely distant, partly because of the discomfort of seeing the ills of colonialism, and partly because of the exaggerated portrayal of all of the characters, and, because the slaves are objectified it is hard to even empathise with their unspeakable treatment. In the end, even the Green Cobra's regret is ambiguous: is it really about the mistreatment of slaves or is it about the failed mission. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review andres s Starts out pretty obscure but then the story picks up and gets interesting. Kinski seems like a guy that can become very irate and almost crazy. You can see it in his eyes. Pretty peculiar little guy that bar owner who ends up telling Kinski's character stories about snow and the moon. What an incredibly beautiful shot with Kinski in the ocean holding the bottle and the sky looking like cotton candy. The whole deal with the sugar plantation and the owner is crazy. Apparently he's getting these darker skinned women pregnant. You can tell Francisco feels really out of place being there. Wow, Francisco aka Cobra Verde has become quite the little conquistador now having all these slaves from Africa. The architecture of the kings house looked super interesting. It was like African but also modern. That song that the African girls sing towards the end was really charming. The musical score is beautiful and meditative giving the movie a feeling of mysticism and grandeur. Herzog really knows how to pick beautiful spots to film. It makes os much sense now seeing that Herzog does documentaries now; he's been making them ever since the beginning. The way he films things, cultures and people in a very candid and naturalistic way. It's very unique and almost unbelievable how Herzog is able to capture things in a very documentary-like feel. It feels like this is how it would be to be alive around the 1800's. This movie was similar to Aguirre in its subject matter and tone, this one was just weirder and odd. Really good social commentary on the slave trade that existed back then but its message gets muddled with distractions. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Merrick S Deserves a place alongside Aguirre: Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo, other thematically similar Herzog-Kinski collaborations. Based on Bruce Chatwin's The Viceroy of Ouidah, Cobra Verde is a modern Heart of Darkness realized with Herzog's usual commitment. Criticisms that it is "amoral" presumably find Kinski's typically deranged portrayal of a slaver to be insufficiently depraved. I suspect it is only American provincialism which prevents recognition of this rich spectacle as a true classic of world cinema. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/23/20 Full Review Audience Member Between 2.5 and 3 stars. Good scenarios, Kinski is always interesting also with not such a strong personality as in other stories (but close). It would need some more strength and narrative pulse, but it is not bad. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Cobra Verde

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Woyzeck 86% 77% Woyzeck Watchlist Stroszek 95% 92% Stroszek Watchlist Every Man for Himself and God Against All 91% 90% Every Man for Himself and God Against All Watchlist Fitzcarraldo 74% 92% Fitzcarraldo Watchlist Heart of Glass 93% 72% Heart of Glass Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Francisco Manoel da Silva (Klaus Kinski) plays an enterprising young Brazilian who, after impregnating the three daughters of his plantation-owning employer, is sent to West Africa to round up slaves. Francisco goes to great lengths to befriend the very people he hopes to enslave -- eventually managing to overthrow a mad monarch and set himself up as king.
Director
Werner Herzog
Producer
Lucki Stipetic
Screenwriter
Werner Herzog, Bruce Chatwin
Production Co
Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen
Genre
Drama
Original Language
German
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 1, 1988, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 15, 2016
Runtime
1h 50m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
Most Popular at Home Now