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Fitzcarraldo

Play trailer Poster for Fitzcarraldo PG 1982 2h 40m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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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.
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Fitzcarraldo

Fitzcarraldo

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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.

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Critics Reviews

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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

Audience Reviews

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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
Fitzcarraldo

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Cast & Crew

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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)

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Fitzcarraldo

Fitzcarraldo (1982) Fitzcarraldo (1982) View more photos

Movie Info

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
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