May 18: Popol Vuh and Herzog

The next pair of soundtracks is by the same band, and were made to accompany wonderful films by Werner Herzog.

The first is the soundtrack to 'Aguirre: Wrath of God'.

This is a rather remarkable film which follows a fortune hunter in South America who heads into the jungle. He is played by Klaus Kinski. It has one of the most striking opening scenes of any film, as the adventurers pick their way long a narrow path through the Andes - the Huayna Picchu trail.

Here's Roger Ebert's review of the film.

It tells the story of the doomed expedition of the conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro, who in 1560 and 1561 led a body of men into the Peruvian rain forest, lured by stories of the lost city.

The second soundtrack is for the film 'Fitzcarraldo'.

Set once again in South America, this one follows the obsessive attempt by Fitzcarraldo to build an opera house in the Amazon in which the great opera singers will perform. He buys a ship which he sails to a point where on a map he can see the chance to drag it over land and cut off a notorious set of rapids.

Herzog took a real boat and tried to do the same.

The amazing documentary 'Burden of Dreams' follows the story of the making of the film.

I will blog separately about the films of Werner Herzog, and his method of film making and huge variety of projects. I once worked on some resources for a film by Werner Herzog and was invited to a special screening.

Roger Ebert writes about his work here as being a form of madness.

And here's the trailer for Fitzcarraldo:

Both soundtracks were by the enigmatic band Popol Vuh and Florian Fricke in particular.

Check out the band and their other music