FITZCARRALDO

The thoroughly absorbing Werner Herzog jungle epic Fitzcarraldo is playing at the IFC Center, perhaps only through Thursday.

Showing in a good-looking albeit uneven new 35mm print featuring some gorgeous cinematography, Fitzcarraldo follows the exploits of the titular opera fanatic (well-played by the otherwordly Klaus Kinski after Jason Robards became unavailable) as he desperately strives to bring an opera house to an outpost on the Amazon about a century ago. Like Herzog's Rescue Dawn, this is a movie about a fanatically obsessive modern man plunged into a raw environment, but whereas the protagonist of Rescue Dawn can find a path to freedom in the workings of a tiny lock, Kinski's Fitzcarraldo is macrocosmic, barely able to see trees for the forest. And forget about him considering topography when using a map. He is the type of opera fan who would surely have little or no patience for anything on the puny scale of chamber music—unless, perhaps, it involved a great such his idol Caruso. Fitzcarraldo's adventure involves some fascinating engineering work that arguably lends a new meaning to the cinematic term "tracking shot." See it.



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RESCUE DAWN

Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn dramatizes the true story of Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale), a United States pilot shot down over Laos in 1966. It's pretty much a genre film in the POW mode: Captured, the man suffers horrible deprivation and looks for a way to escape. What mainly sets this movie apart is its deft direction, its strong cast and cinematography, and Bale's portrayal of Dengler as a type of irrepressible oddball who sees opportunity where others see captivity.

The movie has gotten a pretty positive reception, but it has gotten some negative criticism too. Jerry DeBruin, brother of one of Dengler's fellow captives, argues that the film distorts reality in glorifying Dengler. The movie's treatment of Dengler can certainly come across as Hollywoody and even propagandistic to the detriment of others including the non-Americans, who are almost entirely portrayed as savages. On the other hand, I'd like to think that moviegoers who see how the captives are brutalized would leave with a better understanding of why the mistreatment of prisoners is so roundly condemned.

After seeing Rescue Dawn, I thought about how the Vietnam War has been portrayed in feature films and wondered if I would ever see a Battle of Algiers for that conflict, one that would add more breadth to the movie mosaic that now includes Rescue Dawn in addition to Platoon and Apocalypse Now. Or how about a saga about the fates of different families within Vietnam? (Hm. Suddenly I am reminded of Daughter from Danang.)



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