IM-1776: Reflections of Madness

They would steal fire from the gods.

This week IM-1776 published my review of Werner Herzog’s Aguirre: The Wrath of God.

I was honored to write for IM, which has become one of my favorite publications, and I figured I’d share the review with my readers.

An excerpt:

“We have long struggled to know what to do with [characters like Aguirre]. Their boldness inspires us, and their suffering gratifies us. But such daring also arouses envy, and the boundary between glory and blasphemy is razor thin. Perhaps this is why Aguirre endures fifty years after its original release. In a time of suffocating illusions, when most would deny nature’s treachery and hide from her awful indifference — all the while pledging to master and tame her titanic powers — a figure like Aguirre stands before us like an angry accusation. He gets a little too close. He interrogates us with those wild raging eyes, and his madness and slow disintegration seem a little too familiar. Aguirre conjures terror even as he is terrorized.”

I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to drop your questions or feedback in the comments section below.

If you like what you see from IM-1776, I recommend purchasing a copy of IM ISSUE °I, which I review here.

Thank you for all your support, it truly means a lot.

—Lee