Burden of Dreams

Les Blank

That’s one title you could use for this story. Another would be The Madness of the German Filmmaker. This tells of the four-year struggle by Werner Herzog to make a film in the Amazon jungle about another madman who wanted to bring opera to the jungle at the turn of the 20th century.

The central metaphor is the sight of a large crew of natives recruited to haul a 300 ton ship over a mountain. Once seen it is unforgettable...perhaps as an example of the triumph of mind over matter...or the pointless struggle against nature, reality and common sense.

However one chooses to see this feat it will likely stand as unique in film history. And thank god for that.

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