To my blinkered, Hollywood-ised eyes this film should not have worked. It's an obscure story about a visionary entrepreneur / madman who dreams of building the first Opera House, in the middle of the Amazon! To do this he opens up a shipping route in order to transport huge quantities of rubber in an old passenger liner and at one point he enlists the help of the rain forest inhabitants in transporting this liner up a mountain to a parallel river running down hill! This is a scene that needs to be watched in order to be believed - it is truly remarkable and only Werner Herzog would have both the genius and tenacity to conceive of it!
Klaus Kinski is electrifying as the title character -and his performance onscreen was as "exhilarating" off-camera as it was on - there was even a documentary made of his many exploits.
This is a stunning film and once seen never forgotten - it's a dark reflection to David Lean's epics and deals with personal obsession and determination to a obscene scale! Be warned, it is a long film but ultimately rewarding.
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