---
title: "Fitzcarraldo: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/fitzcarraldo/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/fitzcarraldo"
critics_score: 82
critics_reviews: 6
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Fitzcarraldo (1982): what the critics said

Critics' score 82 from 6 reviews: 6 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative.

The reviews are consistently positive, with praise centring on Herzog’s ambition, the physical demands of the location filming and Kinski’s performance as an opera enthusiast pursuing an extravagant Amazonian scheme. Critics repeatedly connect the director’s determination with his protagonist’s obsession. The scenery and the practical scale of the production draw particular admiration, while Empire places Kinski at the centre of the film’s achievement, crediting him with carrying much of the story.

The differences concern how readily critics accept the length and wandering narrative. The AV Club finds the slow progress rewarding, treating it as part of the film’s account of obsession. Eye for Film is more reserved, finding the storytelling meandering and sometimes difficult to follow, and questioning its plausibility. Even that assessment praises the authentic production and Amazonian scenery: the spread runs from qualified approval to considerable enthusiasm, rather than outright dissent.

## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 August 2005. 

The critic calls it one of the great visions of the cinema and one of the great follies, possible only because of the other. He singles out the real, dangerous location shooting of hauling the massive boat up the hill without effects and Herzog's obsessive commitment to it.

[Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-fitzcarraldo-1982)

## Empire — Justin Bowyer

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 

The film is the greatest achievement of the Herzog/Kinski partnership. Kinski carries the tale of an opera fan's determination almost single-handedly, with the beautiful scenery as his main co-star.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/fitzcarraldo-review/)

## Slant Magazine — Rumsey Taylor

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 13 June 2003. 

The film stands as the preeminent testament to Herzog’s labor as a filmmaker. The critic singles out the iconic climactic image of the steamship on the mountainside as the pinnacle of the director’s ambition and the defining visual of his career.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/fitzcarraldo/)

## The AV Club — Keith Phipps

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 29 March 2002. 

Herzog’s decision to replicate the protagonist’s obsession by literally dragging a steamboat over a mountain results in a long, slow, rewarding film. The critic praises Kinski’s monomaniacal performance as a benevolent variation on his Aguirre role and notes the film’s indelible imagery of men pitting their dreams against nature.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/fitzcarraldo-1798195981)

## Time Out — PT

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. 

The film is an eccentric and monumental marvel of operatic excess, with Kinski's obsessed adventurer pursuing grandiose schemes to bring opera to the Amazon jungle.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/fitzcarraldo)

## The New York Times — Vincent Canby

Rating NYT Critic’s Pick. 10 October 1982. 

The critic calls it a madman's dream but also a fine, quirky, fascinating movie and a stunning spectacle unlike any other. He singles out its benign take on 19th-century capitalism running amok and the way it succeeds despite production hardships.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/10/movies/herzog-s-fitzcarraldo-a-spectacle.html)

## Eye for Film — The Hoodler

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 20 March 2004. 

The critic finds the film highly regarded but notes its meandering narrative makes it hard to follow at times and questions its plausibility. They single out the authentic production values and stunning Amazonian scenery for praise, highlighting the real feat of hauling the boat over the mountain.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/fitzcarraldo-film-review-by-the-hoodler)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/fitzcarraldo.md