Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (Klaus Kinski) calls himself Fitzcarraldo. He and his partner brothel madam Molly (Claudia Cardinale) are big fans of opera. He tells famed tenor Enrico Caruso that he intends to build an opera house. He is obsessed. He's a dreamer who doesn't do well with money. Iquitos is a boom town from rubber and some of the wealthy patrons have already build expansive palaces in a city of huts. Fitzcarraldo uses Molly's money to purchase the last remaining land unclaimed by the rubber barons. It is inaccessible due to rapids but he plans to travel a neighboring river, move the riverboat over a hill and subdue the savage natives. The Peruvian government gives him nine months to access the territories or the contract would be terminated.
Fitzcarraldo is mad. The problem is that he starts off bat sh!t crazy. It's great that he's driven but his craziness is problematic. It's never in doubt that the business would fail. He doesn't really plan anything through. It's very hard to like the man as a businessman and as a character. Klaus Kinski is overplaying the craziness. Of course, Werner Herzog has him ringing the bell like Quasimodo.
Herzog is almost as crazy. Moving the boat is very impressive. So is the use of real jungle locations. However not all of it is cinematic. The use of real locations does not automatically make it compelling. There is a scene where the characters are on a platform overlooking both rivers. That and the boat moving are compelling but the rest is not so compelling.
Fitzcarraldo is mad. The problem is that he starts off bat sh!t crazy. It's great that he's driven but his craziness is problematic. It's never in doubt that the business would fail. He doesn't really plan anything through. It's very hard to like the man as a businessman and as a character. Klaus Kinski is overplaying the craziness. Of course, Werner Herzog has him ringing the bell like Quasimodo.
Herzog is almost as crazy. Moving the boat is very impressive. So is the use of real jungle locations. However not all of it is cinematic. The use of real locations does not automatically make it compelling. There is a scene where the characters are on a platform overlooking both rivers. That and the boat moving are compelling but the rest is not so compelling.