The iconic American actor Werner Herzog called a “coward”
Throughout film history, there have been countless stories about disastrous productions, but very few of them have been as spectacular as that of Fitzcarraldo. Despite the fact that is now considered to be one of the greatest cinematic achievements of the 20th century, almost everything went wrong for Werner Herzog, who came close to death multiple times in the impenetrable oblivion and the seemingly infinite vastness of the Peruvian jungles.
Inspired by the actual story of a rubber baron named Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald, Herzog wanted to make an epic about the contours of human ambition and its inherent absurdity. Fitzcarraldo is a complex commentary on colonisation and exploitation, revolving around the wild dreams of a madman who wanted to manually pull a giant steamship across a hill. In the process of filming, the German auteur himself became a Fitzcarraldo-like figure trying to achieve the impossible.
Although Fitzcarraldo is always going to be associated with Klaus Kinski’s insane performance, Herzog had initially cast American icon Jason Robards as Fitzcarraldo. In addition, Mick Jagger was supposed to play the role of Fitzcarraldo’s assistant while Mario Adorf was going to star as the ship’s captain. However, innumerable hitches to the production ensured that none of them ended up in the final product.
In his book Conquest of the Useless, Herzog called Robards and Adorf “cowards” for being too afraid to shoot in the jungle. He noted: “Robards and Adorf, those cowards, whose real problem stems from their appalling inner emptiness, had refused to get into the car with [George] Sluizer, terrified that the strikers might shoot at them. To explain to them that we had already put forty people onto the ship, that Mick Jagger had crisscrossed the city in his car shuttling people and was already at the shooting site, did no good, and I decided to shoot without them.”
While he criticised Adorf too, it was Robards’ lack of courage that Herzog mentions throughout the journal entries that he penned during the arduous production process. According to Mick Jagger, both Robards and Adorf had drawn up their wills before coming to Peru because they were afraid of the situation in the jungle. After a lot of conflict, the All the President’s Men actor eventually abandoned the production and said that he would never return.
“We were amazed at how terrified Robards must be of the jungle,” Herzog wrote in one of the entries, elaborating in others that the American star routinely complained about the state of the camp they had built in the jungle. As per Herzog’s account of the production, Robards also used his lawyers to create unnecessary delays in the process, and he was unfairly critical of the Peruvian staff as well as the medical facilities.
Herzog revealed: “I recall Robards’s arrogant disrespect for everything Peruvian; he demanded American doctors, considering even our French-educated doctor inferior.” Due to these differences, Herzog had to do the unthinkable: partner up with the infamously volatile Kinski, who brought his own share of tantrums to the making of the film. Fortunately, his insanity translated perfectly to the role of Fitzcarraldo which is undoubtedly among the greatest performances of all time.
Watch an excerpt from the making of Fitzcarraldo where Herzog talks about the intimidating jungle.
