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The inspiration for Aguirre came from a children's book. At a friend's house Herzog had come across some 15 lines about Aguirre, the Spanish rebel who had crowned one of his own men king. Since the theme of revolt had always held a fascination for Herzog, he knew then and there that this rebel would feature in his next film. He let the idea germinate for half a year until he saw the whole film vividly before his mind's eye (shot by shot, dialogue and all); he then wrote the screenplay in a few days, leaving about 60 pages blank to allow for inspiration during shooting (he is in the habit of doing this for all of his films).1 This practice of leaving many pages blank proves to be very necessary for a film director with Herzog's ambition of finding new horizons and new images for almost every new film. Herzog can, with a flexible script, adapt his story easily to new circumstances; thus avoiding setbacks on location in hazardous places where catastrophes can be counted on to occur. For example, during the filming of Aguirre, floods had submerged all the sites he had wanted for a particular sequence. Given his flexibility as a director, Herzog changed his plans and incorporated the drastically changed location in such a masterful way that the flood actually enhances the steadily mounting feeling of entrapment and doom that characterizes this film in general.
As I mentioned earlier, a child's book inspired Aguirre. In his film, Herzog simulates for the viewer his initial flight of fancy inspired by his reading. The film actually begins with prefatory titles that read like a page from a history primer. Starting his film with the written word is highly unusual for a man who prizes the images over the word and who has said about himself that he "has not read much" and considers himself to be almost "illiterate."2 What motivated Herzog to start this film in a way that is atypical for him? As a rule this film director begins a film with visual statements of strong emotional impact. Why this guise of scholarship?
The prefatory titles read as follows:
After the conquest and sack of the Inca empire by Spain, the Indians...