Fitzcarraldo

Now hang on - was that the movie I got dragged to, stoned, by an odd friend, that went on forever - seemingly full of lots of portentuous imagery, and never made any sense - but lots of people died? I have an image of lots of dead, twisted, men and horses?

Ah - just googled - no it isn't - phew. I never saw this film.

I liked this movie, not loved it.
It seems to be based on a true story.

Opera in the middle of the jungle.
The incredible, absurd, beautiful, bloddy effort to bring Western Culture where it didn't belong in the first place.
Reminded me of Sartre's preface of "The Damned of the Earth", by Franz Fanon. The Third World elites echoing high Wester Culture: "..arthenon... arthenon!"

It's odd that this film is the favorite of "Marcos", the famous poet-rebel-pseudoguerrilla leader in Southern Mexico.

I never saw it, but I did see the trailer for it about forty times.

Fitzcarraldo
I must confess to once having gone two thousand miles down the Amazon and vicariously going back to it from time to time by watching "Fitzcarraldo"

Fitzcarraldo is about a guy who is obsessed with the idea that a passage can be found or made between the upper reaches of the Amazon and over the Andes. a passage that would make him very rich. He takes a boat with a crew and attempts to find/ create that passage. It is a fanatic quest for a dream. I feel comfortable calling it an 'existential' movie.

fbaezer, "an opera house in the jungle?" Yes. It's in Manaus, a city one thousand miles up the Amazon. It was a thriving, rich place just after the turn of the century due to rubber plantations owned by the Ford Motor Company. The opera house was succesful and featured such stalwarths of opera as Enrico Caruso. Honest injun!!! On my trip down the Amazon, I stopped in Manaus and toured the opera house.

For those still with me. The general theme of Fitzcarraldo is quite similar to a 1950's novel called "The Wages of Sin" which is strongly existential in theme. In the "Wages of Fear", a small group of me, somewhere in the world, are hired to drive a truck carrying the explosive nitroglycerine. They face endless hardships. The novel was made into a Hollywood movie called "Sorcerer" A real stupid title connoting magic and fantasy. If I recall, it is what they named their truck. The lead actor was Roy Scheider.

Still would like to hear more experiences with "Fitzcarraldo."

"Wages of Fear" was dynamite (sic) and "Sorceror" slogged through a lot of wet dialogue.

"Fitzcarraldo" is a great Sunday afternoon film and the central figure is a character with depth and spirit. I'm afraid if I started it after dinner, I wouldn't be able to finish it! I've yet to show the extended version of "The Two Towers" until a Sunday afternoon with some like company.