Dave Hicks is Back with Terrific Annual Countdown With Herzog’s ‘Fitzcarraldo’ for 1982 at Goodfellas Movie Blog

 

    Ohio blogger and movie fan and writer extraordinaire Dave Hicks is back with his annual movie countdown, which began in 1930, and is now up to 1982.  Dave named Der Blue Engle top film in that first year of the countdown, and just today posted Herzog’s masterpiece Fitzcarraldo as the top film of 1982.  Dave, who pumps out superlative review after superlative review has committed to posting all the way up to the present year.  he generally places a new year up every two days.  His blog is one of my very favorite places to visit, and I can say that I’ve had a ball participating.  Wonders regular John Greco has alo been there from the start and always offers agreement or viable alternatives in the comment scetion.  Judy, Ed Howard, Samuel Wilson and Troy Olson have been there too!

Here’s the link to Dave’s blogsite (also included on the blogroll) and a portion of today’s review:

http://goodfellamovies.blogspot.com/2009/10/1982-fitzcarraldo-werner-herzog.html

Released: March 15, 1982 (West Germany)

Director: Werner Herzog; Screenplay: Werner Herzog; Cinematography: Thomas Mauch; Studio: Filmverlag der Autoren; Producers: Werner Herzog and Lucki Stipetic

Cast: Klaus Kinski (Fitzcarraldo – Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald), Claudia Cardinale (Molly), Jose Lewgoy (Don Aquilino), Miguel Angel Fuentes (Cholo), Paul Hittscher (Captain), Huerequeque Enrique Bohorquez (The Cook)

At what point do grand visions and passions overstep the realm of laudable efforts and become destructive – destructive both for the visionary and for those that happen to be caught in their path? These are the key questions asked in Werner Herzog’s 1982 masterpiece Fitzcarraldo and ironically are the issues at the heart of the making of the film.

In a similar vein to Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, Fitzcarraldo is another instance where the story of its production might be more compelling than the actual film. As shown in the documentary about it’s production, Burden of Dreams, the efforts in completing the movie were nearly as herculean as the labors of the title character. Just read some of the legendary stories and myths that have emerged regarding the shooting of the movie and it’s quickly grasped what an ordeal the entire process was. The character of Fitzcarraldo was originally slated to be Jason Robards. But Robards fell ill and had to withdraw, leaving…

Click on link above to continue……

Read Full Post »