Fitzcarraldo [25th Anniversary Edition] DVD

Fitzcarraldo:
Iquitos Peru, is a town isolated in the middle of the jungle at the turn of the century. On the outskirts, a few shacks are rotting in the mud. In the centre are the splendid houses of the nouveaux-riches rubber barons. It is in this setting, rich un grotesque contrast, that Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald - Fitzcarraldo, as the natives call him - has his dream of bringing together Enrico Caruso and Sarah Bernhardt for one great celebration of Grand Opera.

To finance his fantastic dream, Fitzcarraldo decides to exploit a vast area of rubber trees growing beyond the impassable Ucayala Falls. In order to circument this barrier, he literally has his huge steamboat lifted over a mountain from one branch of the river to the other.

With the aid of a tribe of Indians bewitched by records featuring the voice of the greatest singer of all time, Fitzcarraldo fights fever, mosquitos and suffocating heat to achieve the impossible.

Burden Of Dreams:
Les Blank's fascinating documentary following the chaotic production of Werner Herzog's epic 'Fitzcarraldo', comes to DVD for the first time in this collector's edition. It shows how the film managed to get made despite problems that would have floored a less obsessively driven director.

Not only does Herzog have major casting problems, losing both Jason Robards and Mick Jagger halfway through shooting, but the crew gets caught up in a war between Peru and Ecuador, there are problems with the weather and the morale of cast and crew is falling rapidly...

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