Fitzcarraldo is a
1982-Events:*June 10 = Steven Spielberg's science fiction PG-rating film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, becomes one of the highest-grossing box-office success until Jurassic Park,...
film written and directed by
Werner HerzogWerner Herzog is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director....
and starring
Klaus KinskiNikolaus Karl Günther Nakszyński, best known as Klaus Kinski , was a German actor. He acted in over 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered for his collaborations with writer/director Werner Herzog....
as the title character. It portrays would-be rubber baron Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an Irishman called Fitzcarraldo in
PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
, who has to pull a steamship over a steep hill in order to access a rich rubber territory. The film is derived from the real-life story of Peruvian rubber baron
Carlos FitzcarraldCarlos Fermín Fitzcarrald was a Peruvian rubber baron who served as an inspiration for Werner Herzog's film Fitzcarraldo. Today the Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald Province is named after him....
.
Brian "Fitzcarraldo" Fitzgerald, a European living in a small city in
PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
in the early part of the 20th century, has a great love of opera and an indomitable spirit.
Fitzcarraldo is a
1982-Events:*June 10 = Steven Spielberg's science fiction PG-rating film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, becomes one of the highest-grossing box-office success until Jurassic Park,...
film written and directed by
Werner HerzogWerner Herzog is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director....
and starring
Klaus KinskiNikolaus Karl Günther Nakszyński, best known as Klaus Kinski , was a German actor. He acted in over 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered for his collaborations with writer/director Werner Herzog....
as the title character. It portrays would-be rubber baron Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an Irishman called Fitzcarraldo in
PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
, who has to pull a steamship over a steep hill in order to access a rich rubber territory. The film is derived from the real-life story of Peruvian rubber baron
Carlos FitzcarraldCarlos Fermín Fitzcarrald was a Peruvian rubber baron who served as an inspiration for Werner Herzog's film Fitzcarraldo. Today the Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald Province is named after him....
.
Story
Brian "Fitzcarraldo" Fitzgerald, a European living in a small city in
PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
in the early part of the 20th century, has a great love of opera and an indomitable spirit. He is, however, a dreamer who has one major failure already behind him - the bankrupt Trans-Andean Railway company. A great fan of the famous tenor
Enrico CarusoEnrico Caruso was an Italian tenor who sang to acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and North and South America...
, he now dreams of building an
opera houseAn opera house is a theater building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
in his city of
IquitosIquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian rainforest, with a population of 370,962. It is the capital of Loreto Region and Maynas Province. It is generally considered the most populous city in the world that cannot be reached by road....
. This will require a lot of money, and the most profitable industry in Peru at the time is
rubberNatural rubber is an elastomer that was originally derived from a milky colloidal suspension, or latex, found in the sap of some plants. The purified form of natural rubber is the chemical polyisoprene, which can also be produced synthetically...
. The areas known to contain rubber trees have been parceled up by the Peruvian government and can be leased for exploitation.
Fitzcarraldo investigates getting into the rubber business. He is shown a map by a helpful rubber baron, who points out the only remaining unclaimed parcel in the area. He explains why no one has yet claimed the parcel: while it straddles the Ucayali River, the parcel is cut off from the Amazon by a treacherous set of rapids. However, Fitzcarraldo notices that the Pachitea River, another Amazon tributary, comes within several hundred meters to the Ucayali upstream of the parcel.
To make his dream a reality, he leases the inaccessible parcel from the government. With the selfless underwriting of his paramour and brothel owner, Molly (
Claudia CardinaleClaudia Cardinale is an Italian actress. She had starring roles in 8½ and Once Upon a Time in the West ; the majority of Cardinale's films have been either of Italian or French origin.-Early life:...
), he buys a steamer (which he
christensThe ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
the
Molly Aida) from the same rubber baron, raises a crew and sets off up the Pachitea, the parallel river. This river is known to be more dangerous the further one gets from the Amazon because of the unfriendly tribes that inhabit the area. Fitzcarraldo's plan is to reach the point where the two rivers nearly meet and then, with the manpower of enlisted natives, physically pull his three-story, 320-ton steamer over the muddy 40° hillside across an isthmus, from one river to the next.
Using the steamer, he will then collect rubber on the upper Ucayali and bring it down the Pachitea to market.
The 1982 book
Fitzcarraldo: The Original Story from Fjord Press (ISBN 0-940242-04-4) reproduces Herzog's first version of the story before the screenplay was written.
Cast
- Klaus Kinski
Nikolaus Karl Günther Nakszyński, best known as Klaus Kinski , was a German actor. He acted in over 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered for his collaborations with writer/director Werner Herzog....
- Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald - 'Fitzcarraldo'
- Claudia Cardinale
Claudia Cardinale is an Italian actress. She had starring roles in 8½ and Once Upon a Time in the West ; the majority of Cardinale's films have been either of Italian or French origin.-Early life:...
- Molly
- José Lewgoy
José Lewgoy was an American-Brazilian television, film and theatre actor.He was born in Veranópolis, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, to a Russian father and an American mother, who met in New York. He died in Rio de Janeiro. He was considered one of the best actors in Brazil, and was usually typecast...
- Don Aquilino
- Miguel Ángel Fuentes - Cholo
- Paul Hittscher - Captain (Orinoco Paul)
- Huerequeque Enrique Bohorquez - Huerequeque (The Cook) (as Huerequeque Enrique Bohórquez)
- Grande Otelo
Grande Otelo is the stage name of Brazilian actor, comedian, singer, and composer Sebastião Bernardes de Souza Prata...
- Station master (as Grande Othelo)
- Peter Berling
Peter Berling is a German actor and writer. He has worked on several occasions with director Werner Herzog, in his collaborations with actor Klaus Kinski....
- Opera Manager
- David Pérez Espinosa - Chief of Campa Indians
- Milton Nascimento
Milton Nascimento is a prominent Brazilian singer, songwriter, and guitarist.-Biography:Nascimento's mother was the maid Maria do Carmo Nascimento...
- Blackman At Opera House
- Ruy Polanah - Rubber Baron
- Salvador Godínez - Old Missionary
- Dieter Milz - Young Missionary
- William Rose
William Rose may refer to:*William Cumming Rose , American nutritionist*William Rose , American screenwriter*Axl Rose, born William Rose, Guns N' Roses vocalist*William I. Rose, American mineralogist...
- Notary (as Bill Rose)
- Leoncio Bueno
Production
The story was inspired by the real life Peruvian rubber baron Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald; in the 1890s, Fitzcarrald did bring a steamship across an isthmus from one river into another, but it weighed only 30 tons and he had it dismantled before doing so.
In his autobiographical film
Portrait Werner HerzogPortrait Werner Herzog is an autobiographical short film by Werner Herzog made in 1986. Herzog tells stories about his life and career....
, Herzog has stated that the film's spectacular production was partly inspired by the engineering feats of ancient standing stones. The film production was an incredible ordeal, and famously involved moving a 320-ton steamship over a hill without the use of special effects. Herzog believed that no one had ever performed a similar feat in history, and likely never will again, calling himself "Conquistador of the Useless".
Scenes were also shot onboard the ship while it crashed through rapids, injuring three of the six people involved in the filming.
The casting of the film was also quite difficult.
Jason RobardsJason Nelson Robards, Jr., was an American actor and a WWII U.S. Navy combat veteran. He became famous playing works of American dramatist Eugene O'Neill, and would regularly play O'Neill's works throughout his career...
was originally cast in the title role, but he became ill and was forced to leave. Herzog then considered casting
Jack NicholsonJohn Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director and producer. He is renowned for his often dark-themed portrayals of neurotic characters....
, and even playing Fitzcarraldo himself, before
Klaus KinskiNikolaus Karl Günther Nakszyński, best known as Klaus Kinski , was a German actor. He acted in over 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered for his collaborations with writer/director Werner Herzog....
accepted the role. By that point, forty percent of shooting was complete and Herzog insisted on a total reshoot with Kinski.
Mick JaggerSir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is a Golden Globe and Grammy Award winning English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, occasional film producer and actor, best known for his work as lead vocalist and frontman of The Rolling Stones.The Rolling Stones started in the early 1960s as a...
was originally cast as Fitzcarraldo's assistant Wilbur, but his shooting schedule expired and he departed to tour with
the Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in 1962 in London when multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart were joined by vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards. Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early lineup...
. Herzog dropped Jagger's character from the script and reshot the film from the beginning.
Klaus Kinski himself was a major source of tension, as he fought with Herzog and other members of the crew and greatly upset the native extras. In his documentary
My Best FiendMy Best Fiend is a 1999 documentary film by Werner Herzog about his tumultuous yet productive relationship with German actor Klaus Kinski. It was released on DVD in 2000 by Anchor Bay.-Summary:...
, Herzog says that one of the native chiefs offered to murder Kinski for him, but that he declined because he needed Kinski to complete filming.
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
ian actor
Grande OteloGrande Otelo is the stage name of Brazilian actor, comedian, singer, and composer Sebastião Bernardes de Souza Prata...
and singer
Milton NascimentoMilton Nascimento is a prominent Brazilian singer, songwriter, and guitarist.-Biography:Nascimento's mother was the maid Maria do Carmo Nascimento...
play minor parts.
Locations used for the film include: Manaus, Brazil;
IquitosIquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian rainforest, with a population of 370,962. It is the capital of Loreto Region and Maynas Province. It is generally considered the most populous city in the world that cannot be reached by road....
,
PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
;
Pongo de MainiqueThe Pongo de Mainique is a pongo in Peru, being wide and long, with to high cliffs. It is considered the most dangerous whitewater pass on the Urubamba River, which it divides between Upper and Lower Urubamba. It is a global biodiversity hotspot...
,
PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
;
Puerto MaldonadoPuerto Maldonado is a city in Southeastern Peru in the Amazon forest west of the Bolivian border on the confluence of the Tambopata and Madre de Dios River, a tributary of the Amazon River. It is the capital of the Madre de Dios Region....
,
PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
Related works
Les BlankLes Blank is an American documentary filmmaker best known for his portraits of American traditional musicians....
's 1982
documentaryDocumentary film is a broad category of visual expressions that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can...
Burden of DreamsBurden of Dreams is a feature-length documentary and making-of directed by Les Blank, shot during and about the chaotic production of Werner Herzog's 1982 film Fitzcarraldo, filmed in the jungles of South America.-External links:...
, about the production of the film, documents the many hardships of the production. Blank's footage, some of which also appears in Herzog's
Portrait Werner Herzog and
My Best FiendMy Best Fiend is a 1999 documentary film by Werner Herzog about his tumultuous yet productive relationship with German actor Klaus Kinski. It was released on DVD in 2000 by Anchor Bay.-Summary:...
contains some of the only surviving footage of Robards and Jagger in
Fitzcarraldo and many scenes documenting the ship's journey over the mountain, along with several episodes of Kinski's raving.
Herzog's personal diaries from the production were published in 2009 as the book
Conquest of the Useless, published by
Ecco PressEcco Press is a publishing imprint of Harper Collins Books. It was originally founded by Daniel Halpern as an independent publishing company. Until 1994 the press was the publisher of the literary magazine Antaeus.- External links :...
. The book includes an epilogue with Herzog's views on the Peruvian jungle 20 years later.
Awards
Herzog won the award for
Best DirectorThe Best Director Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946....
at the
1982 Cannes Film Festival- Jury :*Giorgio Strehler *Jean-Jacques Annaud *Suso Cecchi d'Amico *Geraldine Chaplin *Gabriel García Márquez *Florian Hopf *Sidney Lumet *Mrinal Sen...
.
External links