Editing Aguirre, the Wrath of God (section)

==Production==
The idea for the film began when Herzog borrowed a book on historical adventurers from a friend. After reading a half-page devoted to Lope de Aguirre, the filmmaker became inspired and immediately devised the story. He fabricated most of the plot details and characters, although he did use some historical figures in purely fictitious ways.<ref name="Herzog">Herzog, Werner. ''Aguirre, the Wrath of God'' [[DVD]], [[Anchor Bay Entertainment]], 2001, [[audio commentary]]. {{OCLC|228418112}}</ref>

===Screenplay===
Herzog wrote the screenplay "in a frenzy" in two-and-a-half days. Much of the script was written during a {{convert|200|mi|km|adj=on}} bus trip with Herzog's football team. His teammates got drunk after winning a game and one vomited on several pages of Herzog's manuscript, which he immediately threw out the window. Herzog claims that he cannot remember what he wrote on these pages.<ref name="Herzog" />

The screenplay was mostly shot as written, with only minor differences. In an early scene in which Pizarro instructs Ursúa to lead the scouting team down the river, in the script, Pizarro mentions that in the course of the expedition Ursúa could possibly discover what happened to [[Francisco de Orellana]]'s expedition, which had vanished without a trace years before (see "Historical Accuracy" section). Later in the screenplay, Aguirre and his men find a boat and the long-dead remains of Orellana's soldiers.<ref name="Fritze"/>

Further down the river, they discover another ship lodged in the treetops. In the screenplay, Aguirre and others explore the boat but find no sign of Orellana or his men. Herzog ultimately eliminated any such references to Orellana's expedition from the film. The sequence with the boat caught in the upper branches of a tree remains, but as filmed it seems to be simply a hallucinatory vision.<ref name="Fritze">{{cite journal |id={{Project MUSE|402266}} {{ProQuest|1308280267}} |last1=Fritze |first1=Ronald |title=Werner Herzog's Adaptation of History in Aguirre, The Wrath of God |journal=Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies |date=1985 |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=74–86 |doi=10.1353/flm.1985.a402266 |s2cid=191781266 }}</ref>

The finale is significantly different from Herzog's original script. The director recalled, "I only remember that the end of the film was totally different. The end was actually the raft going out into the open ocean and being swept back inland, because for many miles you have a counter-current, the Amazon actually goes backwards. And it was tossed to and fro. And a parrot would scream: 'El Dorado, El Dorado{{'"}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/new_offscreen/werner_herzog.html|title=The Trail of Werner Herzog: An Interview|access-date=2007-05-08|first=Werner|last=Herzog|publisher=Off Screen}}</ref> This ending was eventually adapted for ''[[Cobra Verde]]'', Herzog's final film with Kinski.

===Herzog and Kinski===
Herzog's first choice for the role of Aguirre was Klaus Kinski. The two had met many years earlier when the then-struggling young actor rented a room in Herzog's family apartment, and Kinski's often terrifying antics during the three months he lived there left a lasting impression on the young Herzog. Years later, the director remembered the volatile actor and knew that he was the only possible man who could play Aguirre, and he sent Kinski a copy of the screenplay. "Between three and four in the morning, the phone rang", Herzog recalled. "It took me at least a couple of minutes before I realized that it was Kinski who was the source of this inarticulate screaming. And after an hour of this, it dawned on me that he found it the most fascinating screenplay and wanted to be Aguirre."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,676082,00.html|title=The Enigma of Werner H|access-date=<!----2007-08-22---->|date=20 March 2002|first=John|last=O'Mahony|work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref>

From the beginning of the production, Herzog and Kinski argued about the proper manner to portray Aguirre. Kinski wanted to play a "wild, ranting madman", but Herzog wanted a "quieter, more menacing" portrayal. In order to get the performance he desired, Herzog would deliberately infuriate Kinski before each shot and wait for the actor's anger to "burn itself out" before rolling the camera.<ref name="Knipfel">[[Jim Knipfel|Knipfel, Jim]]. ''Aguirre, the Wrath of God'' DVD, Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2001, [[liner notes]].</ref>

On one occasion, irritated by the noise from a hut where members of the cast and crew were playing cards, the explosive Kinski fired three gunshots at it, blowing the tip off of one extra's finger.<ref name="Herzog" /> Kinski subsequently decided to leave the jungle location over Herzog's refusal to fire a sound assistant, only changing his mind after Herzog threatened to shoot first Kinski and then himself. The latter incident has given rise to the legend that Herzog made Kinski act for him at gunpoint; however, Herzog has repeatedly denied this claim during interviews, saying he only verbally threatened Kinski in the heat of the moment in a desperate attempt to keep him from leaving the set.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://weeklywire.com/ww/04-27-98/slc_ae.html |date=April 27, 1998|title=Hauntingly Herzog |access-date=<!----2007-05-08----> |first=Mary|last=Dickson |work=City Weekly |location=Salt Lake City}}</ref> This incident is parodied in the 2004 film ''[[Incident at Loch Ness]]'', which Herzog co-wrote.<ref>{{cite news|date=March 21, 2009|url=http://moria.co.nz/sciencefiction/incidentatlochness.htm|title=Incident at Loch Ness|access-date=September 7, 2009|first=Richard|last=Scheib|work=Moria, The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312051754/http://moria.co.nz/sciencefiction/incidentatlochness.htm|archive-date=12 March 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Filming===
The film was made for $370,000 ({{Inflation|index=US|value=370000|start_year=1972|r=0|fmt=eq}}), with one-third of the budget going towards Kinski's salary.<ref name="Herzog1">Herzog, Werner. ''Herzog on Herzog'', edited by Paul Cronin, Faber & Faber, 2003. {{ISBN|0-571-20708-1}}</ref> It was filmed on location in the [[Peru]]vian [[rainforest]], [[Machu Picchu]] (the stone steps of [[Huayna Picchu]]),<ref name="Herzog1" /> and on the [[Amazon River]] tributaries of the [[Department of Ucayali|Ucayali region]]. ''Aguirre'' was shot in five weeks following nine months of pre-production planning.<ref name="Herzog" /> The film was shot in chronological order, as Herzog believed the film crew's progress on the river directly mirrored that of the explorers' journey in the story. The director and his cast and crew floated in rafts down the [[Huallaga River|Huallaga]] and [[Nanay River|Nanay]] rivers through the [[Sacred Valley|Urubamba Valley]].<ref name="Herzog1" />

All of the actors spoke their dialogue in English. The members of the cast and crew came from sixteen countries, and English was the only common language among them. In addition, Herzog felt that shooting ''Aguirre'' in English would improve the film's chances for international distribution. However, the small amount of money that had been set aside for post-synchronization "left Peru with the man in charge of the process; both absconded ''en route''". The English-language track was ultimately replaced by a higher-quality German-language version, which was dubbed after production was completed.<ref name="Overbey" /> According to Herzog, Kinski requested too much money for the dubbing session, and so his lines were performed by another actor.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050828/PEOPLE/50828001|title=A conversation with Werner Herzog|access-date=19 June 2007 |first=Roger|last=Ebert|publisher=rogerebert.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050910065548/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050828/PEOPLE/50828001 |archive-date=10 September 2005}}</ref>

The low budget precluded the use of stunt men or elaborate special effects. Cinematography in many scenes was done in order to accommodate the inclement weather and terrain of the region, with the camera lens often being obscured by rainwater and mud when the cast moved through thicker regions of the jungle. The cast and crew climbed up mountains, experienced the adverse conditions of the jungle, and rode Amazonian river rapids on rafts built by locals. At one point, a storm caused a river to flood, covering the film sets in several feet of water and destroying all the rafts built for the film. This flooding was immediately incorporated into the story, as a sequence including a flood and subsequent rebuilding of rafts was shot.<ref name="Herzog" />

The camera used to shoot the film was stolen by Herzog from the [[University of Television and Film Munich|Munich Film School]].<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.harpers.org/archive/2006/12/0081313
| title=The Secret Mainstream: Contemplating the mirages of Werner Herzog|date = December 2006|access-date=<!----2007-05-08----> |first=Tom|last=Bissell|magazine=[[Harper's Magazine]]}}</ref> Years later, Herzog recalled:

<blockquote>It was a very simple [[35mm movie film|35mm]] camera, one I used on many other films, so I do not consider it a theft. For me, it was truly a necessity. I wanted to make films and needed a camera. I had some sort of natural right to this tool. If you need air to breathe, and you are locked in a room, you have to take a chisel and hammer and break down a wall. It is your absolute right.<ref name="Herzog1" /></blockquote>

To obtain the monkeys used in the climactic sequence, Herzog paid several locals to trap 400 monkeys. He paid them half in advance and was to pay the other half upon receipt. The trappers sold the monkeys to someone in Los Angeles or Miami, and Herzog came to the airport just as the monkeys were being loaded to be shipped out of the country. He pretended to be a veterinarian and claimed that the monkeys needed vaccinations before leaving the country. Abashed, the handlers handed the monkeys over to Herzog, who used them in the shot they were required for, then released them afterwards into the jungle.<ref name="Herzog" />

===Music===
{{main|Aguirre (soundtrack)}}
''Aguirre''{{'s}} [[film score|musical score]] was performed by [[Popol Vuh (German band)|Popol Vuh]], a West German [[progressive rock|progressive]]/[[Krautrock]] band. The band was formed in 1969 by keyboardist Florian Fricke, who had known Herzog for several years prior to the formation of the band.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eurock.com/features/florian.aspx |title=Florian Fricke Interview|access-date=2007-10-30|first=Gerhard|last=Augustin|publisher=Eurock| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071015223326/http://eurock.com/features/florian.aspx| archive-date= 15 October 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref>
He had appeared as an actor in the director's first full-length film, ''[[Signs of Life (1968 film)|Signs of Life]]'' (1968), playing a pianist. ''Aguirre'' was only the first of many collaborations between the band and the director.

Popol Vuh's "hypnotic music"<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=2561 |title=Aguirre: The Wrath of God |access-date=2007-10-30 |first=Nick |last=Schager |magazine=[[Slant Magazine]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213085318/http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=2561 |archive-date=13 December 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> for ''Aguirre'' met with considerable acclaim. Roger Ebert wrote, "The music sets the tone. It is haunting, ecclesiastical, human and yet something else&nbsp;... [T]he music is crucial to ''Aguirre, the Wrath of God''".<ref name="Ebert">{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-aguirre-the-wrath-of-god-1972 |title=Aguirre, the Wrath of God |date=1999-04-04 |access-date=2024-02-24 |first=Roger |last=Ebert |publisher=Chicago Sun-Times |website=RogerEbert.com}}</ref> [[AllMusic]] noted, "The film's central [[Motif (narrative)|motif]] blends pulsing [[Moog synthesizer|Moog]] and spectral voices conjured from Florian Fricke's Mellotron-related 'choir organ' to achieve something sublime, in the truest sense of the word: it's hard not to find the music's awe-inspiring, overwhelming beauty simultaneously unsettling. The power of the legendary opening sequence of Herzog's film ... owes as much to Popol Vuh's music as it does to the director's [[Mise en scène|mise-en-scène]]."<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r108141|pure_url=yes}} |title=Aguirre Review|access-date=2007-10-30|first=Neate|last=Wilson|website=Allmusic}}</ref>

Herzog explained how the choir-like sound was created: "We used a strange instrument, which we called a 'choir-organ.' It has inside it three dozen different tapes running parallel to each other in loops.&nbsp;... All these tapes are running at the same time, and there is a keyboard on which you can play them like an organ so that [it will] sound just like a human choir but yet, at the same time, very artificial and really quite eerie."<ref name="Ebert" />

In 1975 Popol Vuh released an album entitled [[Aguirre (soundtrack)|''Aguirre'']]. Although ostensibly a [[soundtrack album]] to Herzog's film, the six-track LP included only two songs ("Aguirre I (L'Acrime Di Rei)" and "Aguirre II") taken from ''Aguirre, the Wrath of God''. The four remaining tracks were derived from various recordings made by the group between about 1972 and 1974. At the time of ''Aguirre'' the band members were Fricke (piano, Mellotron), Fichelscher (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums), Djong Yun (vocals), and Robert Eliscu (oboe, pan pipe). The film features several music pieces that have not been released in any form.

===''Wings of Hope''===
While Herzog was location scouting for ''Aguirre'' in Peru, his reservation on [[LANSA Flight 508]] was canceled due to a last minute change in itinerary. During this flight, the airplane disintegrated in mid-air after a lightning strike and crashed in the Peruvian [[Amazon rainforest]] in 1971, killing 91 people: all on board except 17-year-old [[Juliane Koepcke]]. Herzog was inspired to make the 1998 documentary film ''[[Wings of Hope (film)|Wings of Hope]]'' about Koepcke's survival, since he had narrowly avoided taking the same flight.<ref name="hh">{{cite book
  | last = Herzog
  | first = Werner
  | title = Herzog on Herzog
  | publisher = [[Faber and Faber]]
  | year = 2001
  | isbn = 0-571-20708-1
  | url-access = registration
  | url = https://archive.org/details/herzogonherzog00herz
  }}</ref>