10 Things You Didn’t Know about Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)

This may be one of those films that a majority of you will look at with a confused look on your face, but don’t judge a book (or a movie, in this case) by its cover. Aguirre, the Wrath of God is the type of film that pulls you in from the very onset and keeps you glued based on the sheer madness of it all. Fans of Coppola’s Apocalypse Now owes a great deal to Werner Herzog as the slow decent into madness is never more present than in Aguirre. It’s a film that is slow, prodding, and as unique an experience as it gets. It’s also a film that is full of wild stories. I hope that I’ve found 10 that you didn’t already know….

1- Equipment check: The complete crew for the film consisted of only 8 people and one stolen camera.

2- Location, location, location: Filmed in the rainforests of the Amazon, Aguirre and his men’s journey into madness (and the rainforest) would become an inspiration for Apocalypse Now less than a decade later.

3- Whatever it takes: They had no money for any extra luxuries on set and sometimes had nothing at all. Werner Herzog even had to sell some of his own personal items in order to get breakfast for the cast. They mostly lived on the rafts and even had one with a tiny kitchen.

4- Psycho: At one point in the filming, Klaus Kinski told Herzog that he was going to leave so Herzog threatened to shoot him. Kinski believed him and would later tell media that Werner pulled a gun on him and said he would kill him and then himself. Herzog denies only having the gun, but he said that he most definitely would have shot him had he left.

5- The River runs through it: During filming, the river rose somewhere between 15-20 feet (according to Herzog) and their location and their rafts were washed away. He decided to incorporate that into the film as the conquistadores are met with the same obstacle and must decide to either head back with the body of the group or to make new rafts and push forward.

6- Keeping a tune: Werner Herzog dedicated the film to the flute player. The man was offered the role in the film but was reluctant to take it as he believed that if he left his town then the people of his town would die.

7- Yell it out: In order to get the performance from Kinski that he wanted, Herzog would let him scream and shout his lines for well over an hour until he calmed down and delivered it the way Werner wanted it.

8- Strapped: Aguirre’s costume has many leather straps on it that don’t appear to hold anything in place. Herzog claims that if they were not there then Aguirre would fall to pieces.

9- Bitten: Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog both claim to have been bitten multiple times by the monkeys on the raft.

10- Madness: The film was shot chronologically as Herzog felt it would mirror the trip that the soldiers were taking down the river. Many of the scenes were unrehearsed and unscripted, leading to a totally unpredictable performance from Kinski. It was the first time that Herzog and Kinsi would work together but they would revisit their partnership many times over the next 15 years.