Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German director Werner Herzog, soon finds itself with problems related to casting, tribal struggles and accidents, among many other setbacks; but nothing compared to dragging a huge steamboat up a mountain, while Herzog embraces the path of a certain madness to make his vision come true.
Les Blank's documentary about the making of Fitzcarraldo is one of cinema's most extraordinary behind-the-scenes records. The sheer subject matter — Herzog's obsessive quest to haul a real steamboat over a real mountain in the Amazon — gives it an almost mythological quality that elevates the plot far above typical making-of fare (4). Cinematography is remarkable, capturing both the overwhelming grandeur of the rainforest and the chaos of production with an intimate, observational eye (4). Novelty is very high: this is a singular document of artistic madness and human will, a meta-film that rivals its subject in ambition and stands alone as a portrait of a filmmaker at the edge of reason (4). Acting is not really applicable in the traditional sense, but Herzog and the crew's naturalistic, unguarded presence is compelling — rated modestly (3). The ending, while appropriately understated given the documentary form, doesn't land with the same thunderclap power as the journey itself (3).