About
halfway through" shooting Aguirre, it looked as though everything we
filmed had been lost in transit to the laboratory in Mexico, where the exposed
negative was to be processed. The plan was for everything to be transported to
Lima, and from there to Mexico City. Our only form of communication with the
lab was a telex machine, but they insisted no negative had been received. Only
my brother Lucki and I knew that everything might be irretrievably lost; we
told none of the actors or crew because they would have instantly freaked out.
We knew it was an absurdity to continue shooting because we had no insurance,
so there was no choice but to muster our nerve and carryon with our work. I thought
perhaps the lab had accidentally destroyed everything, but had a hunch there
was a problem with the shipping company in Lima. They insisted the material had
been sent to Mexico, so I asked Lucki to head down there and told him to enter
their offices if necessary by force. He eventually scaled a high fence and found
all the footage thrown away, scattered inside the sealed-off customs area at
Lima airport, baking in the scorching sun. The shipping agency had bribed various
airport employees to stamp the documents, which "proved" our negative
had left the country. Apparently it was too much trouble to actually send the
material. Lucki grabbed everything and took it to Mexico City himself. So I you
all now: whenever you have to, Jump the Fence. And if you can't do that, barbed
wire is easy enough to get through; just set about it with wire cutters. Razor
wire is something else. Find a mattress to cover it before making the leap.
?
Werner
Herzog? "Werner Herzog A Guide For
The Perplexed" (2015)
