Too often this film is seen as a simple ode to determination or obsession by the simpleminded who love the film and those equally simpleminded who hate it, and Herzog, whom they always accuse of abuses — many of which, it should be noted, are exaggerated by Herzog to sell tickets.
In his film commentary, as example Herzog repeats the old legend that an Indian woodsman was bitten by a snake and saved his life by chainsawing off his own foot. These legend-building canards make for good press, even if negative, for Herzog has always subscribed to the dictum that the only bad press is no press. This can be seen in the very nature of the tale, as well, for there was a real Fitzcarraldo - called Fitzcarrald - although he disassembled his much smaller boat than the film portrays, and hauled it across flat jungle, then reassembled it. Herzog, of course, had to go one - or three - better than reality.
In the film, there are very good supporting performances from all the other characters, including Molly, Don Aquilino, and his crew: an experienced captain, Orinoco Paul (Paul Hittscher), who can tell what river he’s on by tasting the water, but who has terrible eyesight, a terrific but undisciplined and resentful mechanic, Cholo (Miguel Ángel Fuentes), a huge menacing Peruvian, and a drunken ship’s cook (Huerequeque Bohorquez) who comes aboard with a coterie of kitchen help bimbos.
But, Kinski, with his blue eyes enveloped by his bulging whites, his shocked golden mane seemingly on preternatural end, and his perpetually white suit and hat, dominates the film’s every aspect, which, despite its eye level realism, is an epic.
How else to describe how Fitz and Herzog approach things? Herzog could have saved time and money by using special effects to haul the boat over the mountain, but didn’t. He used a real steamboat; two were built for the film, and the film makes good use of a first human-powered attempt, and then a second attempt where the ship's motors do the work.
That said, there are several scenes of the steamboat coming down the rapids that are done with a model, and Herzog wisely goes quickly through these scenes. The giveaway is that water droplets and waves are not scalable. However, Herzog does let the scene play out in real time, rather than resorting to quick cuts and a fury of noise. Similarly, there are long shots of the boat literally inching up the mountain which add to the dramatic tension, but that filmmakers in this MTV-infected age would never allow.
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