AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD, WERNER HERZOG AND THE ETHOS OF THE CONQUEROR

Abstract

This paper explores the ethos or the conqueror’s mentality by doing an analysis of the film Aguirre, the wrath of God, by Werner Herzog. In this film, life forms are synthesized and guided by the excessive desire of Lope de Aguirre to possess gold; then, it is that desire, purely imaginary, which gives him courage and, at the same time, makes him cruel and blind to everything else around him, namely beauty, culture, or even destruction. The central thesis in these lines is that the construction of the cinematographic character is consistent with the historical portraits of the conqueror. To account for this, documentary sources will be used, as well as the film, and the subsequent reflections made by the scriptwriter and director. The second central aspect in this text is nature itself, understood as one more character and as the limit for the ambition of the conqueror.