Raindrops on the camera lens, fake blood that's too bright, looped dialogue that doesn't always sync – none of this matters compared to the success of this Werner Herzog film in depicting colonialism and the madness it produces. Klaus Kinski is mesmerizing as Aguirre, the ambitious and ruthless Spaniard whose lust for conquest never abates. As he says, if his team turns back, others will follow and gain all the glory (and gold). Herzog builds tension during the Europeans' rafting journey by showing only glimpses of the lurking Indians whose arrows pick off one explorer after another. The coda has to be seen to be believed, a glimpse into the utter darkness of the human soul.
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