'The birds don't sing. They screech in pain."
Burden of Dreams (1982)
The film is now available from The Criterion Collection in a 4K/Blu-ray 2-disc edition, which was provided in advance for review, as well as separate Blu-ray and DVD editions. It is also now streaming on The Criterion Channel.
Near the end of Les Blank's magnificent documentary Burden of Dreams, directed with Maureen Gosling, Werner Herzog infamously goes off on nature itself. He speaks with brutal honesty and cutting cruelty, yet he acknowledges the impossible beauty of the Amazon Jungle itself.
Before that, though, we get a peek into the challenge of producing Fitzcarraldo -- also now streaming on The Criterion Channel in a bold and beautiful transfer -- starring Klaus Kinski "as the wild-eyed turn-of-the-century Irishman Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald who, before he can realize his dream of building an opera house in the Peruvian jungle, must complete an equally monumental undertaking: hauling an enormous riverboat across a mountain."
A full-bodied portrait, Fitzcarraldo begins with Kinski and Claudia Cardinale, as his wife, arriving at an opera house after an arduous journey simply to hear Enrico Caruso sing in person, which sets the stage for Fitgerald, known as Fitzcarraldo in Peru, to undertake an even more arduous task.
In contrast, Burden of Dreams begins with the arrival of the filmmakers near the end of three and one-half years of pre-production, when everything was in motion and spirits were high. After a period of time, they returned to the U.S. for another job, then heard that production had been halted when star Jason Robards became sick and was not able to return. His co-star, Mick Jagger, was committed to making another album with the Rolling Stones.
Deciding that Jagger's character could not exist without Jagger, Werner Herzog rewrote his script, and called upon his old fiend friend Klaus Kinski to step in. (The filmmaker was prepared to take on the role himself, if need be.) Cameraman/director Les Blank and sound recordist/editor Maureen Goslin returned for several months, and captured what they found: Werner Herzog steadily becoming more intense and even more determined to make his movie -- his vision -- as he saw it, come what may.
Burden of Dreams is a magnificent document of those weeks in South America. Of course, both Herzog and Blank were already experienced filmmakers, and they did not agree with every conclusion reached by the other.
But you cannot argue with the results. In my estimation, Burden of Dreams is the better film, yet Fitzcarraldo is more ambitious, reaching for a dissection of an individual through his wildest dreams. And without dreams, as Herzog says in one of the interviews in Blank's film, what is life?
I first saw Burden of Dreams at Filmex in Los Angeles in 1982. Shot in 16mm, it pierced my heart and soul, and I've carried it with me ever since, through multiple viewings on a variety of media. Watching in 4K on Criterion's new edition, I was caught up immediately with the film again, even though I saw it not long ago on their streaming service, The Criterion Channel.
For me, it's a mesmerizing experience, and 4K enables a pristine viewing experience. If you don't have 4K equipment, the 2-disc edition includes a Blu-ray version, which also contains three bonus features, which are all also available to watch on the Criterion Channel.
-- Audio commentary by Les Blank and Maureen Gosling, recorded in 2004, with additional comments by Werner Herzog, recorded in 2005. Despite seeing the film multiple times before, I'd never heard this commentary before, in which Blank and Gosling provide context to their film, as well as their experiences during filming, which was consistently engaging and informative. Herzog's comments are always good, and, as he comments at one point, he's commenting on a film that was made to comment on his own film; I think that today we would call that "super-meta."
-- Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe. A short film by Les Blank about the time Herzog repaid filmmaker Errol Morris. This was made before Burden of Dreams and led to Blank and Herzog working together.
-- An excellent interview with Werner Herzog, some 38 minutes in length, recorded in 2005. He talks about his early career, working with Klaus Kinski, and discusses his reasons for making Fitzcarraldo. He also talks about his respect for Blank's film as perhaps the only worthwhile 'making-of' documentary because it's not really a 'making-of' doc, it's about things on location that fascinated Blank. It's a fascinating watch.
-- Deleted scenes. Six minutes of footage, featuring an argument involving an angry Kinski and the production manager, plus a lovely scene of Kinski with a butterfly. Herzog, who'd allowed Blank to borrow footage from Fitzcaraldo, asked Blank for this footage to include in his documentary about Kinski, My Favorite Fiend..
-- Behind the scenes photos taken by Gosling.
-- The trailer.
-- A bound, 84-page book, containing extensive excerpts from the journals kept by Gosling and Blank during production, as well as an excellent essay by film scholar Paul Arthur.
Summing up: Great package, a great transfer, and good special features make this an essential purchase for fans of Les Blank and/or Werner Herzog.