Aguirre, the Wrath of God 4K Review (2025)
Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski: one of the most fruitful creative partnerships in the history of cinema, or a director enabling a dangerous lunatic to run wild at the rest of the crew’s expense? The answer, of course, is both. A truly remarkable actor, Kinski’s personal reputation was never good and has only got worse since his death, which can make Aguirre, the Wrath of God uncomfortable viewing at times. It is, nonetheless, an astonishing portrait of uncontrolled descent into madness, and its influence still resonates to this day.
It’s the story of a troop of Spanish conquistadors venturing deep into the Amazon rainforest in search of the mythical city of El Dorado. Journeying further and further from civilisation, they inevitably start to doubt whether what they’re trying to achieve is possible; and in the face of this doubt, Aguirre (Kinski) launches a mutiny. He takes over command of the expedition, and leads his followers on a one-way journey downriver towards insanity and destruction.
Aguirre himself is a delusional, narcissistic megalomaniac hell-bent on getting what he wants, without a care in the world for anyone else. As a result, you can see why Herzog thought Kinski was the perfect person to play him, and to be fair, he is captivating in the role. He brings an unhinged, paranoid intensity to Aguirre that makes him feel genuinely threatening, as though he could explode at any minute, and this weird charisma does sell the idea that so many people would willingly follow him into the jungle.
This uncanny, strange atmosphere permeates the whole film, full as it is of beautiful landscapes shrouded in eerie mist, the river and rainforest going on seemingly forever. The Amazon of Aguirre is both vast and claustrophobic, limitless and oppressive, full of danger even when the natives aren’t trying to kill the conquistadors. The largely quiet, unaffected performances add to the unearthly feeling, conjuring characters completely in thrall to Aguirre’s obsession.
They seem to have no will of their own: there’s the monk who won’t do anything about Aguirre out of self-preservation, and the genuinely pathetic “Emperor of El Dorado“. Aguirre “crowns” Don Fernando to give the expedition legitimacy, and Fernando completely buys into it. He starts styling himself as a king, feasting on fish when everyone else is starving, and seems to honestly believe in his own royalty. Aguirre’s madness is contagious, and everyone else’s willingness to go along with it is truly disturbing.
Also disturbing, in the wake of Pola Kinski’s accusations against her father, are the numerous scenes of Aguirre pawing at his daughter, and proclaiming his intent to marry her. Yes, they’re the deranged ramblings of an unravelling mind, but it’s one of a number of times when the knowledge of what Kinski was like in real life can’t help but negatively affect the film. It’s not hard to wonder how much of his performance was acting and how much was him simply being a dangerous madman.
Not unlike Apocalypse Now, which Aguirre was a significant influence on, this is a film famous for its nightmarish production as much as anything else. But the film itself is a monumental achievement all the same, and you can hear its echoes in everything from Coppola’s Vietnam epic to Scorsese’s Silence. It’s a thoroughly immersive and profoundly atmospheric exploration of obsession and megalomania, and for all that Kinski made the shoot hell for everyone else, you can begrudgingly understand why Herzog would work with him four more times.
★★★★
Released on 4K on 25th August / Klaus Kinski, Helena Rojo, Del Negro / Dir: Werner Herzog / BFI Releasing / PG
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