Should you watch Burden of Dreams?
Who it’s good for, who it isn’t, and what’s in it. No ratings, no scores.

Burden of Dreams
Documentary · 1982
The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German director Werner Herzog, soon finds itself with problems related to casting, tribal struggles and accidents, among many other setbacks; but nothing compared to dragging a huge steamboat up a mountain, while Herzog embraces the path of a certain madness to make his vision come true.
The sides of Burden of Dreams
- Werner Herzog shooting Fitzcarraldo in the Amazon
- A steamboat pulled over a mountain
- A film crew facing accidents and delays
Burden of Dreams is good for you if…
- you like watching a real film shoot slowly fall apart.
- you like the Peruvian jungle filmed up close.
- you like the sight of a whole steamboat hauled up a hill.
Burden of Dreams is bad for you if…
- you find early 1980s footage dated.
- you need a film that moves faster than a jungle shoot.
About: obsession · filmmaking · nature
Closest to Burden of Dreams
More like this
My Best Fiend 1999Good for you if you want the true story behind Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo.
Meru 2015Good for you if you like watching people push their bodies past what seems possible.
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse 1991Good for you if you like seeing how a famous film almost never got made.
The Alpinist 2021Good for you if you love huge mountains, ice and rock walls.
Tim's Vermeer 2013Good for you if you like a theory tested with real lenses and mirrors.
Into the Wild 2007Good for you if you like wide landscapes and life in the wild.