Cobra Verde

Edgar Cochran ✝️🍋5.0

A masterpiece. Sublime, breathtaking masterwork. Ghana literally shines. The last epic Herzog/Kinski collaboration is one transcendent trans-Atlantic journey into the auteur's most rebellious and furious statement yet. He always explored openly the darkest corners of the soul in the most unknown frontiers of our worldwide geography, and the spirit of epic adventure is ultimately translated, not into a humanist statement, but into a testimony about humanism. Predatory environments and splashes of beauty can arise in all parts of the world, and Kinski is, once again, the vehicle to explore the unknown of both the soul and the physical world to extrapolate radical conclusions about human dignity and mankind's struggle for survival reflected as a subconscious scream for spiritual salvation.Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) might be the most insane adventure tale ever told, and Fitzcarraldo (1982) might be the second most overtly-ambitious tropical adventure after Coppola's project that almost pushed him to insanity, but like a Kobayashi anti-war epic, and unlike the previously mentioned Herzog pieces, this speaks books about humanism and it does it proudly through the most unconventional means: realistic, up-to-date sociopolitical transgressions and an "anti-hero" to set the terms of the day. Politics just convolutes everything and Herzog uses them wisely to highlight the futility of subjectively assigned "ranks", be it an empire, a democracy or a kingdom.96/100

Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine3.0

Kinski and Herzog reunite for another picture about colonialism and the arrival of a man who comes for selfish motives but, as luck would have it, ends up doing something good by aiding a group of tribal men and women in their breakout from slavery.This film, like many by Herzog, tests the viewer's endurance. It's a picture that's driven not so much action and intrigue, but it all plays out very much like a contemplative film. The picture ends up feeling like a documentary in which everything and nothing happens at the same time. Kiski and the rest of the actors do a great job, not just with their individual performances but also in capturing the film's mood and adding to its distinctive aforementioned vibe. Some of them can even do break dancing. The cinematography and blocking are certainly the film’s biggest highlight.All in all, it's hard to sum up or recommend this film, but if you enjoy the actor's and director's previous collaborations, especially their classics, you might like this one.TODAY SCHEDULEMy Years of DicksCobra VerdeNinja IIThe Bad SeedThe Major and the Minor

shookone2.0

kind of transcendents Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo in the sense that any concept and storyline seems to be lost in mania and madness. even ego-punk and schizo-narcissist Kinski can't come fully across anymore. this is tired, unconcentrated, without panache. at least the beautiful camera and score emancipate themselves from the skeleton of a film that is offered.