Herzog’s Hearts of Darkness in 4K

A filmmaking nightmare to rival that of Apocalypse Now, as captured in the documentary Hearts of Darkness, will stream in 4K for the first time on DocPlay from October 19.

Les Blank’s Burden of Dreams tracks five years in the life of German filmmaker Werner Herzog as he tried to complete one of the most challenging shoots of his life, Fitzcarraldo, the story of one man’s attempt to build an opera house deep in the Amazon jungle.

“First released in 1982, and now restored in vibrant 4K, the film is an indelible document of the filmmaking process – and the unparalleled madness and magic of director Werner Herzog,” reads the blurb.

“Blank captured the unfolding of this production: the result is an extraordinary document of the filmmaking process and a unique look into the single-minded mission of one of cinema’s most fearless directors.”

As the Wall Street Journal observed:

Shooting and conducting interviews in the midst of Mr. Herzog’s production, Blank created an enduring record of hubris, exploitation and unrelenting misadventure in the pursuit of artistic greatness, all ideally symbolised in both films’ central image—fashioned from mud, sweat and timber—of a huge boat being hauled over a mountain.

Ahead of its DocPlay debut, Burden of Dreams will have a theatrical run at the Capitol Cinema in Auckland, starting Thursday (see sessions here).

You can view the trailer here and here’s an account of its painstaking 4K restoration.

Diehard fans of the documentary will want to snap up the 4K-UHD disc Criterion is releasing in November.