Burden of Dreams (1982)

'Burden of Dreams' is documentarian Les Blank's film about the making of Werner Herzog's 1982 feature 'Fitzcarraldo'. 'Fitzcarraldo' is loosely inspired by fact and concerns the efforts of an eccentric business man and opera lover to, among other things, move a large boat over a hill from one South American river to another. This seemingly insane quest captures the way in which Herzog's movie was essentially a metaphor for itself, and Blank's film chronicles the notoriously difficult production. Among the difficulties to befall the film were money troubles, the lead actor getting sick and having to be recast midway through the film (originally Fitzcarraldo was played by Jason Robbards, and later by Herzog's difficult muse Klaus Kinski, the film also stars Claudia Cardinale among others), multiple plan crashes, Indian troubles, a death, and shoot relocation owing to a nearby war and aggressive native rights advocates. The film largely leaves out Kinski's famously unhinged on set behaviors, Herzog would attribute this to something of a gentleman's agreement, though some of that footage would be used later in Herzog's own documentary about his relationship with Klaus. Director Banks was both exhausted and disgusted before the end of the shoot, stating he didn't care if Herzog ever finished the film or not. Fortunately he stuck around and 'Burden of Dreams' is itself a wonderful monument to obsession, and a really tricky film shoot. ***