Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Aguirre, the
Wrath of God is a 1972 West German adventure film written and directed
by Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski stars in the title role. The story
follows the travels of Spanish soldier Lope de Aguirre, who leads a
group of conquistadores down the Amazon River in South America in search
of the legendary city of gold, El Dorado. Using a minimalist story and
dialogue, the film creates a vision of madness and folly, counterpointed
by the lush but unforgiving Amazonian jungle. Although based loosely on
what is known of the historical figure of Aguirre, the film's story line
is, as Herzog acknowledged years after the film's release, a work of
imagination. Some of the people and situations may have been inspired by
Gaspar de Carvajal's account of an earlier Amazonian expedition,
although Carvajal was not on the historical voyage represented in the
film. Aguirre was the first of five filmic collaborations between Herzog
and the volatile Kinski.
