Aguirre, the Wrath of God , known in the UK as
Aguirre, Wrath of God, is a 1972
West German epic film written and directed by
Werner Herzog.
Klaus Kinski stars in the title role. The soundtrack was composed and performed by German
progressive/
Krautrock band
Popol Vuh. The story follows the travels of Spanish soldier
Lope de Aguirre, who leads a group of
conquistadores down the
Orinoco and
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 storyline 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. Other accounts state that the expedition went into the jungles but never returned to civilization.