MovieChat Forums > Fitzcarraldo (1982) Discussion > How much of it was True? *(Spoiler Alert...

How much of it was True? (Spoiler Alert)

posted 19 years ago by nitejrny282
2 replies | jump to latest

What parts of this movie were historically accurate? I got that Fitzgerald was a real person who wanted to build an opera house in the middle of the amazon. But did he really pull a ship over the mountain? Did the natives really help him, only to screw him in the end by cutting the ship loose and sending it into the rapids? If so, was the explaination they gave in the movie (that it was to quell the evil gods of the rapids) the same reason that they gave in real life? What happened to Fitzgerald after his failed venture?

[–] bmcwi 17 years ago

In the DVD notes, Herzog says a friend told him of a rubber baron called Fitzcarrald (no "o") who was very prosperous but whose main claim to fame was the moving of a ship between two rivers, for the reason of exploitation of a previously unreachable region of rubber trees. He wasn't a mental opera buff :) The rest of Fitzcarraldo is fiction - excellent, but fiction.

[–] Krustallos 17 years ago

The original guy dismantled his boat to move it between the rivers. Not as crazy (in the admirable sense) as Herzog then, clearly......

I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.

How much of it was True? *(Spoiler Alert)*

How much of it was True? (Spoiler Alert)