Fitzcarraldo

Play trailer

Fitzcarraldo

PG

Released Oct 10, 1982

2h 40m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

77%

Tomatometer

30 Reviews

92%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Opera-loving European Brian Fitzgerald (Klaus Kinski) lives in a small Peruvian city. Better known as Fitzcarraldo, this foreigner is obsessed with building an opera house in his town and decides that to make his dream a reality he needs to make a killing in the rubber business. In order to become a successful rubber baron, Fitzcarraldo hatches an elaborate plan that calls for a particularly impressive feat -- bringing a massive boat over a mountain with the help of a band of natives.

Watch on Prime Video

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

With a production as audacious as the feat it's depicting, Fitzcarraldo comes by its awe-inspiring spectacle honestly, even when it declines to examine the darker implications of its hero's dream.

Read Critics Reviews

Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

The film itself is a leaden variation on [Herzog's] Aguirre, the Wrath of God. It’s Aguirre without the inspired images or great subject.

Sep 12, 2023

Full Review

Michael Sragow

Rolling Stone

My reaction is strictly, "So what?”

Jun 21, 2022

Full Review

Elliott Stein

Film Comment Magazine

This botched, shapeless, gratuitous, ignoble, neo-colonialist film is so poorly made, written, edited, and directed that its centerpiece, its raison d'tre -- the honest-to-God hauling of a boat up a mountain before your eyes -- is meaningless.

Rated: 1/4

Dec 12, 2017

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

Much like the frazzled Fitz himself playing Caruso on his beaten up Victrola record player, we sense there is something special in the art we are consuming.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 20, 2022

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Few motion pictures have captured the frenzied power of obsession with as much veracity.

Rated: 4/4

Mar 18, 2022

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

A film that moves like a ship through the flow of a river, where Herzog acts as helmsman. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 7/10

Sep 26, 2021

Full Review

Read all reviews

Isaiah Y

Notable Herzog film with a memorable performance by Klaus Kinski

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/12/25

Full Review

Thomas S

All this for that... Watch "Burden of dreams" instead : the shooting process is more interesting than the movie itself

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/01/25

Full Review

Amy M

I find it interesting when people attempt to assign current cultural values to the past. This film demonstrates how destructive humans can be when trying to live out a dream

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/22/25

Full Review

BowTangey M

You have to see it to believe it.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/15/25

Full Review

Lars N

Loooooong but fascinating. A bizarre spectacle more than a compelling narrative.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/14/23

Full Review

Alec B

Beautifully articulated madness. The impressive spectacle is matched by Kinski's brilliant and unhinged performance.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/13/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Werner Herzog

Director

Klaus Kinski

Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald - 'Fitzcarraldo'

Claudia Cardinale

Molly

José Lewgoy

Don Aquilino

Miguel Angel Fuentes

Cholo

Paul Hittscher

Captain (Orinoco Paul)

The Escape Artist

80%

64%

The Escape Artist

Watchlist

Moonlighting

100%

80%

Moonlighting

Watchlist

Staying Alive

3%

39%

Staying Alive

Watchlist

Missing

94%

85%

Missing

Watchlist

Jean de Florette

93%

95%

Jean de Florette

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Five Favorite Films with Baz Luhrmann

Critical Consensus: Woo-Hoo! Simpsons Is Certified Fresh; No Reservations Is Bland; Rescue Dawn Shines

"X-Men 3" Director Talks About X-Pectations

View more photos

Synopsis

Opera-loving European Brian Fitzgerald (Klaus Kinski) lives in a small Peruvian city. Better known as Fitzcarraldo, this foreigner is obsessed with building an opera house in his town and decides that to make his dream a reality he needs to make a killing in the rubber business. In order to become a successful rubber baron, Fitzcarraldo hatches an elaborate plan that calls for a particularly impressive feat -- bringing a massive boat over a mountain with the help of a band of natives.

Director: Werner Herzog
Producer: Willi Segler, Lucki Stipetic, Werner Herzog
Screenwriter: Werner Herzog
Distributor: New World Pictures
Production Co: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 10, 1982, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 11, 2017
Runtime: 2h 40m

Most Popular at Home Now