Cobra Verde | 
| Director: Werner Herzog
Actors: Klaus Kinski, King Ampaw, Jose Lewgoy, Salvatore Basile, Peter Berling
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
List Price: $19.97
Buy New: $9.91
You Save: $10.06 (50%)
New (14) Used (3) from $8.25
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 52125
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), German (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 4.9 x 0.6
MPN: 013131109894
ISBN: 6305972796
UPC: 013131109894
EAN: 9786305972792
ASIN: 6305972796
Theatrical Release Date: December 3, 1987
Release Date: October 24, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Five Star Seller!!! New, factory sealed US Region 1 DVD. Item is 100% guaranteed not to be a bootleg or import. Item is shipped directly from our warehouse. Easy exchange if item defective or damaged in shipped.
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
In their last film together, director Werner Herzog drew from actor Klaus Kinski a performance that grounds Kinski's volcanic passions with a new gravity--perhaps age was bringing Kinski down to earth. He plays Cobra Verde, a notorious Brazilian bandit, whom a plantation owner hires to keep his slaves in line. After Cobra Verde impregnates all his daughters, the owner and the authorities conspire to send the bandit to Africa to reopen the slave trade. They expect him to be killed, but through a mixture of his own cunning and the volatile politics of West Africa, Cobra Verde ends up leading an army of women to overthrow the king. Cobra Verde is disjointed, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth watching. Kinski is magnetic in scene after remarkable scene, and though the whole isn't satisfying, the parts certainly are. --Bret Fetzer
Product Description
No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: KINSKI/AMPAW/LEWGOY/BASILE/BER
Title: COBRA VERDE
Street Release Date: 10/24/2000
Domestic
Genre: ACTION / ADVENTURE
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Cruelty and Conquest August 24, 2000
emma cervone (Chicago, USA)
27 out of 30 found this review helpful
As many other films and characters created by Werner Herzog, Cobra Verde explores the extent to which cruelty and obsession can lead an individual to his own moral and human defeat. Settled in some west African country, the film is a recreation of the horror of the slave trade embodied in a charatcer, astonishingly played by Klause Kinski, whose amorality and thirst for absolute power equal the madness of characters such as Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre. Like these other two films, also Cobre Verde explores the darkest side of human mind and soul with a clear reference to a very precise historical experience. The three characters share the same obsession for domination and conquest which proves to be fatal to many individuals including themselves. The last scene of the film is absolutely mesmerizing and, at least to me, unforgettable. Cinematography and photography are superb. It is sorprising that it is almost impossible for those who would like to see this film again to find it anywhere to rent it out.
The final Herzog/Kinski collaboration December 15, 2004
Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
Klaus Kinski, the mercurial actor and star of hundreds of films both big and small, attained his grandest stature when working with German director Werner Herzog. They collaborated on several films together, including "Aguirre, the Wrath of God," "Fitzcarraldo," "Woyzeck," "Nosferatu," and "Cobra Verde." I've seen three of these films now, and the formula is the same in all three. Kinski plays a driven personality who attempts to perform some grand feat that no one else can achieve. In "Aguirre" he set out with a contingent of Spanish soldiers to find the fabled city of gold. "Fitzcarraldo" saw Kinski playing a wealthy rubber baron in Brazil in search of finding a way to build an opera house on the banks of the Amazon. "Cobra Verde" continues the tradition with Kinski starring as a former South American plantation owner and bandit leader in search of a way to restart the African slave trade against crushing odds. There's something magnetic about Kinski in these Herzog movies that makes you believe no other actor could play the character. Perhaps it is his volcanic personality shining through onscreen, a personality that Herzog had great difficulties in restraining. Whatever the case, film fans could do worse than spend an evening with a Herzog/Kinski collaboration.
In "Cobra Verde" Kinski plays Francisco Manoel da Silva, a man ruined when family catastrophes and a bad drought cost him his plantation. In an attempt to recover his property and put his life back together, he takes a grinding job with a mining company. When the owners try to shortchange him after a hard day's work, he stomps off in a rage and begins a career as the notorious bandit Cobra Verde. While we don't see his subsequent career as a robber and killer, we do learn that all of Brazil--indeed, all of South America--has at least heard of his great exploits. Fortunately for Kinski's character, the wealthy sugar baron Don Octavio Coutinho (Jose Lewgoy) doesn't recognize him when Cobra Verde somehow calms a dangerous runaway slave. Impressed by the man's talents, Coutinho hires da Silva to work as an overseer on his enormous estates. Everything seems to go gangbusters until da Silva impregnates every single one of Don Coutinho's mulatto daughters. The sugar baron goes ballistic, and gets even angrier when he discovers he is dealing with the great Cobra Verde. Coutinho and his fellow kingpins devise a plan to rid themselves of this potentially dangerous force. They decide to send him to Africa.
Why? Because the land barons in South America want more slaves in order to work more land. There are obstacles to the mission, including a ban on the importation of slaves and a hostile African king who kills all of the European mediators. Da Silva knows none of this, or very little of it, before agreeing to go to Africa. He doesn't have much of a choice since the sugar barons will kill him if he refuses. His ship sets him ashore at Elmina, a gigantic barracoon on the coast of present day Ghana. Cobra Verde discovers that an attack on the fortress wiped out all but one man, a chatty free African who agrees to help da Silva negotiate with the King of Dahomey for more slaves. And it works, at first, when da Silva convinces the representatives from Dahomey to trade slaves for new rifles. Then problems set in. The king brings Kinski's character before him and threatens him with death. Da Silva escapes and makes an alliance with a prince who wishes to take over the throne. Thanks to Cobra Verde's manic military training of thousands of African women, the prince captures the throne and allows the slave trade to continue. Once again, the situation deteriorates after a time, forcing Cobra Verde to flee from Elmina with nowhere to go. The last shot we see of him is one of the more memorable scenes I've had the pleasure to see in a film. It stays with you.
The plot of "Cobra Verde" isn't nearly as interesting as Herzog's visuals and Kinski's performance. As always, Kinski captures emotional extremes extraordinarily well. He's subdued when Don Coutinho shows him the brutality of the plantation or when he converses with the Don's daughters. When training the prince's army, he's practically frothing at the mouth. Kinski is never anything but entirely believable in both situations. Of course, it takes a performer of Kinski's caliber to stand out in films where the visuals are often more important than the human elements. Such is the case with "Cobra Verde." I have two favorite scenes in the film, but there are many just as memorable. The first situation takes place when da Silva refuses to visit the king because he says he must stay where he has one foot in the ocean. When the king's men tie da Silva up, they take a jug, fill it with seawater, and tie it around his foot for the long trip inland. There's your one foot in the water! The second scene involves sending messages from Elmina to the new prince. A line of Africans extending for miles along the coast, each man separated by a few feet, send codes by waving enormous red flags. Herzog's camera lingers on this incredible imagery for minutes at a time.
Included on the disc are a trailer and a commentary track with Herzog. The director discusses his tempestuous relationship with Kinski (always a fan favorite), his experiences with Bruce Chatwin and how he convinced this author to let him use "The Viceroy of Ouidah" as source material for the film, and the difficulties of shooting in so many harsh environments. While I liked "Cobra Verde," and think it is obligatory for Klaus Kinski fans, I much prefer "Aguirre" and "Fitzcarraldo" to this film. Still, this one will make you think long after that last, lingering shot on the beach.
"The slaves will grow wings..." October 6, 2002
C. G. Gross (Oradell, NJ United States)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Werner Herzog has said that he's not happy with the way "Cobra Verde" turned out. Since I don't know how it was supposed to turn out, I can only give my opinion of the finished product.
Klaus Kinski (in his last starring role in a Herzog film) plays a Brazilian cattle rancher forced into poverty due to a drought and a death in the family. He spends some time as a gold miner, but when he is cheated by the paymaster he takes up a life of crime and becomes the almost comically-feared bandit "Cobra Verde".
He almost-accidentally becomes a foreman to the owner of a sugar plantation; when he falls afoul of the man by impregnating his daughters, the plantation owner decides to appoint him as a vice-regent in West Africa, in the hope that he will get himself killed in the process of reviving the slave trade. Unfortunately for everyone, Cobra Verde is resourceful enough to accomplish his mission-- just before the British destroy the slave trade for good. Cobra Verde is cheated again, and he dies in a futile attempt to sail a slave ship back to Brazil.
Again, I don't quite know what the problem is-- all the actors and actresses are fantastic, Herzog achieves epic results on a small budget, the photography and music are beautiful, and the story is powerfully moving. I've decided not to worry about it. The film has some amazing moments: the 360-degree pan at the beginning, the woman who seduces Cobra Verde during a thieving raid ("Your money or your life!" "My life."), the lone holdout from the Brazilian stronghold, the mad African chief,... and the beautiful girls singing a ceremonial song at the end, all build up to an amazing viewing experience. Herzog's films have this quality of almost adhering to a formula, but they still let a bit of random strangeness through-- just like real life. I don't think Herzog has anything to worry about.
 A very minor Herzog March 22, 2001
5 out of 12 found this review helpful
Let's admit it: Herzog is God. But God also does uninteresting things sometimes, and here is the example. However, the very last scene of the film is breathtaking.
KInski and herzogs final film together! February 9, 2002
mark logg (Sa,Tx.)
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
I thought the film started a little slow,but quickly this movie picks up momentum and ends in a big explosion! KLaus Kinskis acting in this film is absolutely brilliant and manically ferocious! Kinski makes us all believe that he is the revered bandit ,Cobra Verde! When Kinski charges past the sacred snake on the ground to kill the african king, we see the rage in his face and voice and we cheer him on,go Cobra verde! This film also has some of werner herzogs best cinematography,comparable to Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo. A lasting collaboration between 2 film giants of world cinema!
|
|
|
