Arthur, Paul. “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities.” The Criterion Collection: Burden of Dreams (2005). <http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=287&eid=415&section=essay> [cited 8 April 2008].
 
This essay discusses the documentary Burden of Dreams, which follows the four-year long production of Fitzcarraldo. Arthur argues that the film acts as a counterweight to Herzog’s fanatical view of the world. For example when Herzog obsesses over the “obscenity” of the jungle, Blank cuts to beautiful images of the natural state of the jungle. The essay also offers insights into the production of the film, involving total isolation of the crew in the Amazon, sending a riverboat he used down a series of rapids with the crew onboard, and the use of large numbers of local tribesmen. Lastly, the paper touches on how the filming of the movie in many ways paralleled the story being filmed.
In watching Fitzcarraldo and hearing Herzog’s perspective, one often loses track of exactly how outrageous of feat the filming of the movie actually was. The paper hints at but never fully explains the irony in the fact that Fitzcarraldo tells the story of a crazed European adventurer who goes into the Peruvian Amazon to accomplish a monumental feat, and Herzog, also crazed European adventurer, does precisely the same thing in order to film the movie. The paper does seem, however, to degrade Fitzcarraldo, making it seem almost like an adventurous folly whose greatest achievement was the production of Burden of Dreams.  While the latter may be a superb, even revolutionary documentary, Fitzcarraldo remains an incredible cinematic achievement unworthy of the negative tone Arthur takes towards it.