Fitzcarraldo Review

Fitzcarraldo
Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, or Fitzcarraldo, conceived a plan to build an opera house in the middle of the Peruvian jungle. To gather the funds, however, he conceived a plan to drag a ship across a mountain first…

by Justin Bowyer |
Published on
Release Date:

01 Jan 1982

Running Time:

158 minutes

Certificate:

PG

Original Title:

Fitzcarraldo

Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski worked together many times, but rarely - if ever - to better effect than in this tale of a South American opera fan. The enigmatic actor carries the story of one man's determination to bring opera to the jungles of South America almost single-handedly; his only real co-star is the perilously beautiful scenery.

The arduous nature of the shoot, and the recreation of some of Fitzcarraldo's more extreme ambitions, means that the shooting of the film mirrored its subject more closely than many documentaries. The grand scale of Fitzcarraldo's tenacious obsession clearly parallels the director's own...

Arguably the greatest achievement from the hugely volatile Herzog/Kinski partnership.
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