Burden of Dreams Page #5

1,500 miles south...

to his newjungle location

on the Rio Camisea.

From Iquitos,

under the best of circumstances...

it takes a full day

to reach the camp by air...

with the last leg

in a small, single-engine plane...

and over two weeks by boat

when the rivers are navigable at all.

Since Herzog admits he could shoot

most of Fitzcarraldo right outside Iquitos...

some people think

the remotejungle location...

is just another example

ofhis insistence on making things tough.

Herzog claims that the isolated location...

will bring out special qualities

in the actors and even the film crew...

that would be impossible

to achieve otherwise.

The local Machiguenga Indians

are cooperative...

but Herzog's problems

are far from over.

The upper Amazon tributaries are too shallow

for large ships to use unless they're flooded.

Originally, Herzog had planned to shoot

during the rainy season...

when the rivers would have been

high enough for him to move his ships.

But all the delays have thrown him

badly off schedule.

By now the rainy season is over...

and the rivers are falling fast.

He has no choice.

Ifhe waits, the film will collapse.

The film camp is located

in the eastern foothills of the Andes.

It's blazing hot in the sun,

chilly when it clouds over.

People sleep under blankets at night.

Heavy thunderstorms can strike

at any hour of the day or night...

and clothing never quite dries out.

Herzog provides flush toilets,

cold-water showers...

and a noisy electric generator

to power the lights...

keep the beer cold and maintain

a radio link with the outside world.

The only sour note

comes from the radio:

A loud, yammering squawk

that never ceases.

Pucallpa, Camisea.

If you look that way- this is east -

you would, uh, have to walk

2,500 miles until the jungle ends.

That way you would have to walk,

let's say, 2,000 miles.

This way you have to walk,

let's say, 1,500 miles.

And this way you walk

maybe 500 miles until the jungle ends.

Fitzcarraldo plans to finance his

opera house with profits from the rubber boom.

So he befriends Don Aquilino...

an eccentric caucho baron who's already made

millions exploiting rubber trees and native labor.

Aquilino is played byJos Lewgoy...

a leading actor in many

Brazilian TV soap operas.

Is this a rubber tree?

Right.

Cut.

Look how elastic it is.

Yeah.

What do you think is wrong with the rubber?

It either looks

like bread or like sh*t.

I can't help it.

I can't help it.

Over there. I presume you're -

you're familiar with the market price.

- It's one of my- Here?

- Yeah.

Yeah. Maybe you take that hat -

I - I would suggest that you leave the hat

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