Burden of dreams

DVD - 2005

Goes behind the scenes in the making of Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo, the story of one man's attempt to build an opera house deep in the Amazon jungle. Filmmaker Les Blank captured the production, made perilous by Herzog's determination not to use models or special effects.

Saved in:

2nd Floor Show me where

DVD/791.4372/Burden
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor DVD/791.4372/Burden Checked In
Subjects
Genres
Video recordings for the hearing impaired
Published
[United States] : Janus Films : Criterion Collection 2005.
Language
English
German
Spanish
Hindi
Other Authors
Les Blank (-), Maureen Gosling, Werner Herzog, 1942-
Item Description
Originally released in 1982.
Special features: audio commentary by Les Blank, Maureen Gosling and Werner Herzog; Dreams and burdens, a 38 minute interview with Werner Herzog; Werner Herzog eats his show (1980); deleted scenes; photo gallery; theatrical trailer.
Physical Description
1 videodisc (DVD)(95 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in
Format
Region 1, full screen (1.33:1) presentation; Dolby Digital mono.
Audience
MPAA rating: Not rated.
ISBN
9780780030015
Contents unavailable.
Review by Library Journal Review

From D.W. Griffith's Intolerance to Erich von Stroheim's Greed, film history is littered with grandiose, ruinous, sometimes unrealized film projects. In 1979, German director Werner Herzog went to the Amazon jungle to film Fitzcarraldo, a tale of an adventurer obsessed with building an opera house in the middle of the rain forest. Independent filmmaker Blank was granted extensive access to the film's cast and crew, and in a shooting schedule that eventually stretched to several years, he captures Herzog's battles with the elements, hostile terrain, suspicious natives, delays and snafus, and illness that required the replacement of lead actor Jason Robards and supporting actor Mick Jagger. The documentary's centerpiece details Herzog's elaborate effort to film a steamship as it's pulled through the jungle. The movie subtly links Fitzcarraldo's obsession with Herzog's mania to get it all on film. The viewer is left to sort out whether the film had a negative impact on an exotic culture or was ultimately worth the effort, but this documentary should inspire interest in rediscovering Fitzcarraldo. The disc includes a scene-by-scene commentary by Blank and Herzog, a new high-definition transfer, and deleted scenes. While not as compelling as similar "making of" projects (e.g., Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, focusing on Apocalypse Now), this documentary is recommended for academic collections.-Stephen Rees, Levittown Lib., PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.