DCC Book Club: Conquest of the Useless / Fitzcarraldo

This is a read & watch at home/ meet in person event.

One of the most fabled nightmares in film history, Herzog’s production of Fitzcarraldo has spawned not one, not two, but THREE (and maybe more?) accounts- both in documentary and memoir form. Roger Ebert describes Fitzcarraldo as “one of the great visions of the cinema, and one of the great follies.” Join me to plunge into the madness by watching the film and reading his diary entries from that time, published as Conquest of the Useless: Fever Dreams in the Jungle. Don’t expect a traditional recounting of events; these are, as Herzog writes, “inner landscapes born of the delirium of the jungle.”

Like pushing a boat up a mountain, this isn’t easy material, but we’re up for the challenge if we do it together!

Book: Conquest of the Useless: Fever Dreams in the Jungle (available at bookshop.org)

Film: Fitzcarraldo (Kanopy)

Optional Viewing:

• Burden of Dreams (Criterion)
• My Best Fiend (Rent on Amazon or Apple TV+)
• Any other Herzog films you’d like to bring to the conversation