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Film: Fitzcarraldo
Release date: 21st May 2007
Certificate: PG
Running time: 151 mins
Director: Werner Herzog
Starring: Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, José Lewgoy, Miguel Ángel Fuentes, Paul Hittscher
Genre: Adventure/Drama
Studio: Anchor Bay
Format: DVD
Country: Peru/West Germany
Over the years, there have been many actor/director collaborations of note: Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese; and Toshirō Mifune and Akira Kurosawa are a couple of the better known examples. However, few have been as intense and impassioned as the work undertaken by director Werner Herzog and actor Klaus Kinski. Continually at odds with each other, with Herzog allegedly having to direct Kinski at gunpoint for parts of their first collaboration Aguirre, Wrath Of God (1972), they managed to make four more films together. Of the five films – including a remake of the silent classic Nosferatu with Kinski as Dracula in 1979 – the most infamously arduous, and perhaps most rewarding is their penultimate effort, Fitzcarraldo.
Set in the Amazonian jungles of Peru, European entrepreneur Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (Kinski) – referred to as Fitzcarraldo by the locales – dreams of bringing his foremost love of opera to the town of Iquitos by building a grand opera house, and having the work of his favourite tenor Enrico Caruso play there.
Being the owner of the defunct Trans-Andean railway company, the town’s tycoons – many of whom enjoying success in the booming rubber industry – are quick to ridicule and dismiss Fitzcarraldo as an eccentric dreamer. Only successful brothel owner and lover Molly (Claudia Cardinale) believes in him.
To raise the capital required, Fitzcarraldo investigates setting himself up in the rubber business. With the help of rubber industrialist and friend Don Aquilino (José Lewgoy), Fitzcarraldo finds a section of land unclaimed by the rubber companies because of its inaccessibility - cut off from boat travel because of a treacherous stretch of rapids. With Molly’s financial assistance, Fitzcarraldo buys a three storey steam boat from Aquilino, and assembles a crew to venture out to the unreachable part of the jungle with an unorthodox plan…
Despite the innumerable problems with the film’s production (unpredictable weather; losing original lead actor Jason Robards halfway through due to a bout of dysentery, and having to start the film from scratch with Kinski; getting caught in the middle of violent disputes between the local Amazonian tribes being used as extras; not to mention dwindling morale from a disheartened crew), Fitzcarraldo miraculously manages to disguise these destructive elements, and presents a serene and frequently beautiful journey about one man’s unflinching obsession.
Regardless of the fisty-cuffs that may have occurred off-camera with Herzog, Kinski easily delivers one of his finest performances – based on real-life rubber baron Carlos Fitzcarrald – with a quiet intensity that never gets too hammy or pretentious. His Fitzcarraldo is a man with a seemingly indestructible spirit, whose determination in realising his dream peaks during the film’s famous centrepiece, where hundreds of native tribes people drag his 300 tonne steamboat over a mountain to avoid the perilous rapids.
Lewgoy’s Don Aquilino and Cardinale’s Molly also stand out lending the film an ensemble feeling, as opposed to it being merely a vehicle for Kinski’s occasional scenery chewing, which is very much restrained here.
Kinski’s subtle yet energetic performance ensures that the film’s languid two-and-a-half hour run time, whilst obviously long, never drags. Fitzcarraldo’s steamboat drifts serenely through miles of unspoilt jungle; a small beacon of civilisation in an otherwise savage world, creating a sense of isolation and foreboding that simply could not be achieved in a slapdash ninety-minute edit. Herzog manages to create a strong sense of a journey being undertaken, with the film’s length allowing such progression to evolve unhurried.
Herzog’s camera is simultaneously passive and active; lingering on an image the one minute and exploring as much as possible the next - revealing inherent beauties that would otherwise go unnoticed. Fitzcarraldo’s steamboat (christened Molly after its benefactor) becomes a character in itself; a clear symbol for man’s impact on nature, especially when Fitzcarraldo and his army of tribesmen – eager to assist who they mistake to be a white god travelling on the divine vessel – cut down hundreds of yards of jungle to clear a path for the boat’s slow journey over the mountain, which is achieved through building a complex network of winches made from the cut down trees.
The iconic boat pulling sequence – the scene that is synonymous with the film – is indeed very impressive to see unfold - from clearing the path to dragging the ship up through the mud hillside. It may be interesting to note that this was all done for real by Herzog and his cast and crew, with a bit of motorised assistance. In fact, the entirety of the film was done for real. Everything was shot on location in the Amazon, and on a real boat giving the story a weathered realism that simply couldn’t be replicated on a sound stage. This, coupled with Herzog’s vérité style camerawork, suggests an almost documentarian execution that makes the transpiring events even more engrossing to watch. We want Fitzcarraldo to succeed against the obstacles placed before him, making the film’s eventual denouncement all the more involving and emotional.
Fitzcarraldo is proof positive that you don’t need large scale battles for a story to feel epic. Sadly, this kind of filmmaking is a rarity nowadays; moving an entire cast and crew out into the jungle for the best part of a year is a prospect that most modern studio financiers would balk at, but, as a result, you feel as though you’ve been on a very real journey.
Herzog’s quirky humour is also present: the steamboat’s captain working out which tributary they are sailing on by tasting the water, and the image of an opera being transported on a fleet of small boats compete with instruments, performers in costume and false battlements crammed on (and hanging off the sides) are but two of the film’s stranger moments, providing welcome light relief. There are magic realist touches in the form of Fitzcarraldo’s beloved gramophone playing his idol Caruso for all the jungle to hear, with events turning to his favour each time the record is played.
In a way, Fitzcarraldo has some similarities to the positively nightmarish Apocalypse Now (1979) filmed a few years prior, or better still its literary source: Joseph Conrad’s Heart Of Darkness. Both works feature a group of people travelling up river through unfriendly lands (the Amazon in Fitzcarraldo and the African Congo in Heart Of Darkness) led by a man driven by obsession.
Its dreamy pace may dissuade some viewers, but Fitzcarraldo is a terrific and rewarding cinematic achievement, and a testament to Werner Herzog’s determination to realise his vision, rivalled only by the determination of the film’s eponymous lead. Despite the frequent, sometimes massive setbacks during the film’s production (painfully captured in Les Blanks’ making of Burden Of Dreams, which is included in the 25th Anniversary set), the film is wonderfully executed and remains coherent and interesting until its final satisfying moments. MP
Film: The String
Release date: 18th October 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 90 mins
Director: Mehdi Ben Attia
Starring: Claudia Cardinale, Antonin Stahly-Vishwanadan, Salim Kechiouche, Driss Ramdi, Ramla Ayari
Genre: Drama/Romance
Studio: TLA
Format: DVD
Country: France/Belgium/Tunisia
Growing up, Claudia Cardinale had always planned to become a teacher. That is until she won ‘The Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia’ beauty pageant in 1957. A ridiculous title, for sure, and one that she still laughs at today, but without it she may never have gone on to make well over sixty films, including The Professionals, Once Upon A Time In The West and The Pink Panther. Now 72-years-old and still going strong, the actress once referred to as Italy’s happiest invention after Spaghetti, appears in Mehdi Ben Attia’s The String.
Malik (Antonin Stahly-Vishwanadan) isn’t looking forward to his return to Tunisia after living in France. Not only is he struggling to cope with the loss of his father, he has yet to admit his sexual orientation to his mother, resulting in the resurfacing of his childhood anxieties.
Greeted warmly by those closest to him, the architect is immediately confronted by his mother Sara (Claudia Cardinale), who hopes and expects that he will finally manage to settle down, subtly hinting at marriage.
Living in a class conscious society, Malik decides to hide his true feelings and lives a lie, hooking up with a friend whose only demand of him is that he can father a child for herself and her female partner.
Their deception, along with plans to wed, is placed in jeopardy when Malik meets his mother’s handsome handyman, Balil (Salim Kechiouche), and they begin a tentative relationship. Will Malik finally lose the ties that hold him back, or will his forbidden love be undone by their rapidly changing culture and a mother’s expectations?
In the one and only trashy scene during the movie, Malik is shown having vivacious sex with rough trade. This moment alone suggests that director Mehdi Ben Attia is more concerned with class and cultures rather than gender identity, as the underdeveloped scene sits out of place in an otherwise romantic fable. Malik’s desire to seek prostitution seems a little hard to swallow when for the majority his looks and personality seemingly get him whatever he wants. Disappointingly, his darker side is never truly realised and never explored again.
Handled with more care is the subtext about class. Although a little wishy-washy, the feel-good message here, of tolerance and love, far outweighs the agonies of coming out of the closet. It also doesn’t include a silly piece of string that weakly offers a visual metaphor for Malik’s childhood struggles.
If tugging at the string hanging from his shirt isn’t odd enough, it gets stranger still, during a brief cutaway when Malik is imprisoned by it, the string wrapped around him so tightly he screams at the camera in surreal fashion. The award for ‘Most Out Of Place Movie Scene’ goes here, like it’s been ripped out of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, yet wouldn’t be so bad if more flashes of inspiration were to follow.
They don’t – but this is a good thing, because thankfully, other than an unnecessary explanation about his childhood anxieties and a final scene on the beach with such forced dialogue as: “If I let go of the string, will you swim?” that isn’t as clever as it thinks it is, the title of the movie is redundant; the real story focusing on love and the social stigma it may sometimes bring.
Some excellent performances rescue this far too obvious tale, with Claudia Cardinale’s Sara and Salim Kechiouche’s Balil (in a role he’s played on numerous occasions now) stealing the show, and holding the viewers waning interest begging for some form of surprise. It’s a shame that there’s little invention here (there’s certainly nothing new to say), because the luscious backdrops and pleasant enough score have the makings of something quite beautiful – instead it all feels made for daytime television; hardly surprising to learn that Mehdi Ben Attia has done little other than.
A few scenes stand out: a sweet exchange between Malik and Bilal when the latter requires some nice shoes to gain entry to a club, mother catching them in a morning clinch, and the oddly amusing wedding day. But these are often ruined by unintentionally daft dialogue, such as: “Don’t forget, if she dies, text me,” and “Tonight we’re not cousins – tonight, we’re truly cousins.”
All this taken into account, the biggest criticism is that by the final act the script offers no conflict whatsoever. Mother suddenly goes from disgusted to delighted, contradicting the opening two acts with her sudden approval, while arguably Malik’s biggest foe, his grandmother, who realises that the marriage is merely a device to cover up the pregnancy, is equally just as pleased, as long as he comes and visits every once in a while. All in all, it’s a great excuse for a party – that’ll be the entire final act then…
Perhaps because it’s devoid of fresh ideas, or maybe because its subtext is handled more satisfyingly, The String is instead suited to daytime television, and a waste of Claudia’s Cardinale’s acting abilities. She does seem to be having fun though – shame that can’t be said for the rest of us. DW
Film: The Leopard
Release date: 21st June 2010 (DVD release: 27th September 2004)
Certificate: PG
Running time: 185 mins
Director: Luchino Visconti
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon, Paolo Stoppa, Rina Morelli
Genre: Drama/Romance
Studio: BFI
Format: Blu-ray
Country: Italy/France
No less than Martin Scorsese has hailed Luchino Visconti’s 1963 epic as one of his favourite films of all time, and now the movie has been given the High Definition treatment and made its way onto Blu-ray.
Hollywood legend Burt Lancaster stars as the ageing Prince of Salina, who finds himself over taken by events during the period of Italian unification in the early 1800s, where democratic revolt saw the aristocracy under severe pressure.
As the prince struggles to hold onto power in his country, there are matters closer to home which are also moving out of his control. Alain Delon plays his nephew Tancredi, who goes off to fight with Garibaldi’s forces and on his return falls in love with the prince’s beautiful wife-to-be Angelica (Claudia Cardinale)…
The film was famous at the time for going horrendously over budget and taking a few liberties with its original source material, a novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. The director also clashed with the studio over the length of the movie. His original cut was a staggering 205 minutes, but under pressure to cut it down to a still-whopping 185 mins.
It was Visconti’s attention to detail that sent the cost of the film through the roof. No expense was spared, which makes for a film that truly looks stunning. It cost around $7m to make at the time, and you see every cent through the costumes and locations. It was filmed on location in Sicily and has a truly epic feel to it.
There were several versions of the film produced at the time, including a shorter (165 mins) edit which was dubbed in English, apart from Lancaster’s lines. This BFI print is the original Italian version and it has been lavishly restored in High Definition. It is safe to say that there are films that have been made in the last ten years that do not look this good on blu-ray.
The restored version allows you to marvel at just how good the costumes were and the scale of Visconti’s vision. Visconti used Technirama to film The Leopard, which gave him incredibly high quality and widescreen images, although as the accompanying booklet points out, this meant the shots took a long time to set up, which only added to the cost of the production.
By modern standards, the film is too long. The finale at the ball in Palazzo Pantaleone occupies a quarter of the entire film’s running time, clocking in at just under 45 minutes. Critics at the time were divided about whether the film was a masterpiece or just self-indulgent.
Looking back, these ballroom scenes are absolutely stunning. Hundreds of extras are dancing in beautiful costumes, and Lancaster is truly at the height of his powers. It could easily be trimmed and cut down, and you can see how it informed some of Scorsese’s more elaborate and indulgent films, like Gangs Of New York. It is slow paced, but when every shot looks so wonderful, you are still drawn into all the subtle nuances and lingering looks.
Lancaster delivers a truly stunning performance as an aristocrat who is unable to keep up as society changes around him. Although the famous American actor had all his lines dubbed by an Italian actor, he delivered a truly stunning performance, particularly in the closing moments of the film.
The film also has a short interview with Claudia Cardinale and a commentary by David Forgacs and Rossana Capitano. A different transfer of the film has been issued in Region 1 by Criterion and also includes documentary on the making of the movie, as well as the English-dubbed version.
As a costume drama, Visconti’s film delivers on every level. Yes, it is too long and it does take a few liberties with the original novel, but the same could be said about most movie adaptations. It’s a beautiful film with a Hollywood icon delivering one of his greatest performances. JH
