Burden of Dreams Page #3

Herzog claims that the isolated location...

will bring out special qualities

in the actors and even the film crew...

that would be impossible

to achieve otherwise.

The local Machiguenga Indians

are cooperative...

but Herzog's problems

are far from over.

The upper Amazon tributaries are too shallow

for large ships to use unless they're flooded.

Originally, Herzog had planned to shoot

during the rainy season...

when the rivers would have been

high enough for him to move his ships.

But all the delays have thrown him

badly off schedule.

By now the rainy season is over...

and the rivers are falling fast.

He has no choice.

Ifhe waits, the film will collapse.

The film camp is located

in the eastern foothills of the Andes.

It's blazing hot in the sun,

chilly when it clouds over.

People sleep under blankets at night.

Heavy thunderstorms can strike

at any hour of the day or night...

and clothing never quite dries out.

Herzog provides flush toilets,

cold-water showers...

and a noisy electric generator

to power the lights...

keep the beer cold and maintain

a radio link with the outside world.

The only sour note

comes from the radio:

A loud, yammering squawk

that never ceases.

Pucallpa, Camisea.

If you look that way- this is east -

you would, uh, have to walk

2,500 miles until the jungle ends.

That way you would have to walk,

let's say, 2,000 miles.

This way you have to walk,

let's say, 1,500 miles.

And this way you walk

maybe 500 miles until the jungle ends.

Fitzcarraldo plans to finance his

opera house with profits from the rubber boom.

So he befriends Don Aquilino...

an eccentric caucho baron who's already made

millions exploiting rubber trees and native labor.

Aquilino is played byJos Lewgoy...

a leading actor in many

Brazilian TV soap operas.

Is this a rubber tree?

Right.

Cut.

Look how elastic it is.

Yeah.

What do you think is wrong with the rubber?

It either looks

like bread or like sh*t.

I can't help it.

I can't help it.

Over there. I presume you're -

you're familiar with the market price.

- It's one of my- Here?

- Yeah.

Yeah. Maybe you take that hat -

I - I would suggest that you leave the hat

here when you walk over.

- Okay.

- Leave that hat over here. Yeah.

- Or you can leave it -Yes, yes.

- Oh!

- Because the - the smoke disturbs you. Yes.

- Yeah. The smoke.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

How much do you think

this stinking stuff weighs?

Sixty kilos. And I presume

you're familiar with the market price.

How long does it take

to make one of these?

Three men, one week.

Presently I have a staff of 8,500.

I'm thinking of increasing it to 10.

You know, you're a strange bird...

but I must say I like you.

This is just impossible.

This is impossible.

It's enough to put you to sleep.

Could you look over there?

- Yeah. With the eyes.

- I look there. Yes.

- Yeah. Yeah. This kind of-

- Okay.

- This kind of raving -Yeah.

- Okay.

Let's have a -

Let's have a very wild one.

- Yeah.

- Like this here. Can you find a position? Yes.

- There. Yeah.

- That is a position for the 10,000.

- Okay. Okay.

- The dream is right up at that-at that branch.

- All right.

- Okay?

But I'm thinking of increasing it to 10.

To act in front of a camera

gives me physical pleasure.

That's when I get myself realized.

Otherwise I would be a bank manager.

If- If you remove that pleasure-

If you take this pleasure-

then the- what-

what have you left?

The hardship of doing this film,

which is a very difficult and very hard-

physically hard film to do.

Basically,

all our equipment and all our resources...

would come all the way from Iquitos.

The next town that you can

call a town would be Pucallpa.

It's half the distance between Iquitos

and Camisea.

And that, of course, is a-

is an enormous trouble

to get even a nail into the camp...

or anything that you need.

The chicken is dead.

- It's dead?

- Yeah.

With the river this low,

the slightest error in navigation...

can run a ship aground.

But when a sudden rainstorm

raises the water level for a few short hours...

Herzog tries a desperate gamble and takes the ship

out onto the river to shoot an important scene.

- We are in trouble.

- What's wrong?

I don't know exactly. The -

The engine is not strong enough.

And we are going backwards,

and we've run on ground.

Here on these rocks.

And the water is sinking.

But if we-if we go into this...

we might lose this boat.

If that gets stuck...

then we can forget about shooting...

for the next maybe half year.

There's nothing wrong with the engine.

There's just not enough ballast in.

See, they took all the stones, all the -

the diesel fuel out to get it over the mountain.

So now it's too light,

and the propeller comes out of the water...

and just, uh -just turns around.

It's -There's no force enough

to push it, you know.

With the ship

run aground in the shallows...

Herzog builds a mock-up

with identical rigging...

in order to continue shooting.

Through a camera lens on the top deck,

it will look just like the real thing.

Are there more people?

Divide everyone up among the empty canoes.

Check again to see if there are any more

brave men who know how to swim and row.

Fitzcarraldo has discovered

a way to reach unexploited rubber trees.

His plan is to pull the ship over a hill...

at a point in thejungle where two parallel rivers

come within a mile of each other.

He steams upriver in search of the overland

passage, but it's a terriblejourney...

and finally he decides to turn back.

Then he sees that Indians have

cut offhis retreat.

Everyone this way!

Slowly!

Be serious.!

Careful! Quickly!

Slowly!

Seora, get inside.!

Sit down, you in yellow.!

Seora, get inside.!

You, seora.! You.!

Everyone look this way.

Seora in the yellow, get a little more in place.

- Should they go back again?

- Don't laugh.

Everyone, all the canoes have to go back!

Go back!

Go back,

and then come forward again.

Everyone back!

Well, some of them come from the area

where we are actually shooting.

Machiguengas from this territory.

But there are also Campas around.

But, um, the...

big amount of Campas

came from a place - Oventeni.

Rio Tambo, Rio Ene.

From this area. Some of them

were flown here to the river...

and came all the way

up on the river in boats.

Some of them were flown in directly...

and some of them-

the people from Oventeni-

whom I like best,

I must say-

they came on foot four days

over the mountains, to the river...

and then they were picked up

and driven to the camp.

- There's no action. No action.

- Well, we're gonna have an interview with you.

I am sitting here.

I am sitting here... very satisfied.

We are waiting at the moment-

waiting for some Indians more...

and waiting for some canoes more...

and when we have some canoes more,

we are waiting for some Indians more more.

That's our problem in the moment.

And in one hour it's too late.

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