In Search of El Dorado  Aguine: Wrath of God directed by Werner
Herzog at the Orson Welles  THE OPENING sequence in Aguirre:
Wrath of God is perhaps one of the most beautiful scenes in
modern film. The Andes, spectacular in their lush greenery, rise
steeply into the mist; gradually, the camera moves in through
the clouds to focus on a long line of men winding slowly,
silently, down a mountain pass. It is 1560, we are told, and
these travellers are Spanish conquistadors coming in search of
the fabled El Dorado.  That scene reflects in miniature the
contradictions in the movie. With slow, silent accuracy, the
camera picks out the details of the conquistadors' movement: the
absurdity of their costumes in the humid sun, their lack of
respect for their Indian slaves, their devotion to the cross,
their reliance on weaponry, their confidence. No one talks as
they slog through the mud: the audience is left to discern on
its own the nature of their journey, to predict their success
from the stand-point of uninformed,