Aguirre, Wrath of God

Another milestone in the director’s career, Aguirre, Wrath Of God marked the first appearance in his work of actor Klaus Kinski and the beginning of a relationship that would in some ways come to define them both.

Kinski plays the titular conquistador whose search for El Dorado, the legendary city of gold, brings him instead into the heart of madness. Travelling deeper into Peru, Aguirre and his band, including his daughter Flores (Cecilia Rivera), face obstacles including treacherous river currents, the indigenous people, and their own internecine conflicts that lead Aguirre to mutiny rather than retreat, resulting in a fate depicted in an astonishing final scene.

Herzog’s depiction of merciless Nature, and the nature of a man utterly untethered by circumstance, are just two of the factors that have given Aguirre such longevity as a staple of European arthouse cinema.