agmtw logo
search

Fitzcarraldo (1982)

Fitzcarraldo (1982)

The Very Best

8.0

Movie

Germany, Peru
English, German, Italian
Adventure, Drama
1982
imdb
rt
wiki

What it's about

Fitzcarraldo is a dreamer who plans to build an opera house in Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, so, in order to finance his project, he embarks on an epic adventure to collect rubber, a very profitable product, in a remote and unexplored region of the rainforest.

The take

There are plenty of films about dreamers, but none as wild and wacky as Fitzcarraldo. The film follows the titular opera-loving foreigner, who’s obsessed with creating an opera house in the middle of a jungle, and tries to get the funding for it throug the rubber business. It’s a pretty wacky premise, and a pretty wacky tale, but it’s the perfect film to challenge famed eccentric auteur Werner Herzog, who got a 320-ton steam boat hauled into the Amazon, had multiple recasts due to illness, and had conflict with leading man Klaus Kinski so tense that assassination was offered by one of the extras, among other troubles. Strangeness aside, Fitzcarraldo proved to be an audacious, operatic epic, garnering numerous nominations for the Palme d’Or, Golden Globes, and the BAFTAs.

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

Anora (2024)

An exciting and heartbreaking fairy tale with a modern, class-centric twist

9.0

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

A star-studded and riveting legal drama with a blockbuster feel.

8.1

System Crasher (2019)

A tale of trauma and one of the most talked about movies on Netflix in 2020.

9.0

Victoria (2015)

Filmed in one continuous take and in real time on the streets of Berlin, ‘Victoria’ immerses the viewer in a heart-stopping drama

9.8

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

A romance from France like no other

8.2

Fruitvale Station (2013)

Compassionate filmmaking reconstructing a 24-hour police brutality story – with a stunning lead by Michael B. Jordan

9.7

The Teachers’ Lounge (2023)

A tense classroom thriller that doubles as an allegory about the frightening complexity of our modern world

9.0

A Most Violent Year (2014)

A stunning drama with excellent performances

8.0

Head-On (Gegen die Wand) (2004)

This raw, punk drama about a star-crossed love in modern Germany is as timely now as it was when it came out

9.3

Everybody Knows (2018)

A Spanish movie from the Iranian director of A Separation

7.2

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2025 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.