New Trailer for 4K Re-Release of Doc ‘Burden of Dreams’ on Herzog
by Alex Billington
June 20, 2024
Source: YouTube
“I’m running out of fantasy. I don’t know what else can happen now. Argot Pictures has revealed a brand new re-release trailer for the documentary classic Burden of Dreams, one of the great behind-the-scenes looks at making an epic. Les Blank’s doc is about filming Werner Herzog’s masterpiece Fitzcarraldo, an extraordinary undertaking filming on location in Peru, essentially mirroring a lot of what’s happening in the film’s plot. This fascinating doc film follows a young, mustachioed Werner as he deals with difficult actors, bad weather, and getting a boat moved over a mountain, all in an effort to make his film. The 4K restoration will open in select US theaters this summer for a rerun right alongside Fitzcarraldo. “Since Les Blank died in 2013 we have remastered & released 7 of his films. The restoration of Burden of Dreams is of the highest quality to date and what may set it apart is the audio restoration, as Nick Bergh worked from the original ¼” audio tapes and created a 5.1 mix,” said restoration exec producer Harrod Blank, doc filmmaker and son of Les Blank. This looks exceptional, the footage is so clean and crisp. A must watch doc for every cinephile.
Here’s the official trailer (+ two posters) for Les Blank’s doc Burden of Dreams, direct from YouTube:
Burden of Dreams is the riveting account of the near-disastrous production of director Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo, starring Klaus Kinski in the titular role, which traces the story of one man’s attempt to build an opera house deep in the Amazon jungle. As cast members drop like flies (first lead Jason Robards Jr. became ill with dysentery and was forbidden by his doctors to return to Peru to finish filming; ship captain Mick Jagger had to leave to tour with the Rolling Stones), a prop ship is trapped in the rapids, and Herzog makes impossible demands, haranguing hundreds of native Campa, Machiguenga, and Aguaruna people to pull a full-size, 320-ton steamship over a small mountain. Anchored by an as-it-was-happening interview with Herzog himself, as he details his unflinching vision for a project that took nearly five years to pull off. Burden of Dreams has endured as a fascinating–and controversial–record of the filmmaking process and a unique look deep into the mind of one of cinema’s most idiosyncratic and fearless directors.
Burden of Dreams (1982) is directed and produced by iconic American documentary filmmaker Les Blank, director of many, many films over his years, including In Heaven There Is No Beer?, The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins, A Well Spent Life, A Poem Is a Naked Person, Hot Pepper, Dry Wood, Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers, Always for Pleasure, and the previous Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe doc from 1980. The film won the BAFTA award for Best Documentary and also co-filmmaker, editor & sound recordist Maureen Gosling (whose 20-year long collaboration with Blank produced over twenty films) was nominated for Best Edited Documentary. Argot Pictures will re-release the new 4K restoration of Burden of Dreams in select US theaters (at Film Forum in NYC at first) starting on July 19th, 2024. For more info, visit their official site.
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