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44-407: In the late 19th century, Francisco Manoel da Silva ( Klaus Kinski ) is a debauched Brazilian rancher who has reluctantly gone to work at a gold mining company after his ranch is ruined by drought. When he discovers that he is being financially exploited, he murders his boss and goes on the lam to pursue a career as an outlaw. He becomes the notorious Cobra Verde (Green Snake), the most vicious bandit of

88-459: A Child's Mouth ), in which she claimed her father had sexually abused her from the age of 5 to 19. In an interview published by the German tabloid Bild on 14 January 2013, Kinski's younger daughter and Pola's half-sister, Nastassja, said their father would embrace her in a sexual manner when she was 4–5 years old but never had sex with her. Nastassja has expressed support for Pola and said that she

132-638: A Dupe (1975). In 1977, he starred as the RZ guerrillero Wilfried Böse in Operation Thunderbolt , based on the events of the Entebbe raid . Kinski's work with Werner Herzog brought him international recognition. They made five films together: Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972), Woyzeck (1979), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and Cobra Verde (1987). The working relationship between

176-546: A feature film by George Roy Hill in 1984. Kinski co-starred in the science fiction television film Timestalkers with William Devane and Lauren Hutton . His last film was Paganini (1989), which he wrote, directed, and starred in as Niccolò Paganini . Kinski was married three times. He married his first wife, singer Gislinde Kühlbeck , in 1952. The couple had a daughter, Pola Kinski . They divorced in 1955. Five years later he married actress Ruth Brigitte Tocki . They divorced in 1971. Their daughter Nastassja Kinski

220-455: A film, and after learning that David Bowie had also expressed interest in adapting it as a feature, Herzog raced to acquire the rights and begin production. The film was shot in Ghana, Brazil, and Colombia. During pre-production, Herzog showed Kinski photographs of the locations he was considering. Kinski disagreed with Herzog about which locations would be best for the film, and he took a trip with

264-657: A group of friends to some remote places that fascinated him, including the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Cape of the Sailing on the Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia. Herzog ultimately decided to film in Villa de Leyva and Valle del Cauca . About the locations in the film, Kinski said: "Herzog does not know that I give life to the dead scenery." Cobra Verde

308-496: A widespread cult following and a reputation as a popular icon . Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski was born on 18 October 1926 in Zoppot , Free City of Danzig (now Sopot, Poland), to Polish-German parents. His father, Bruno Nakszynski, worked as an opera singer before becoming a pharmacist, while his mother, Susanne Lutze, was a nurse and the daughter of a local pastor. He had three older siblings; Inge, Arne and Hans-Joachim. Due to

352-406: Is a subordinate of the director , tasked with capturing a scene in accordance with the director's vision. Relations between the cinematographer and director vary. In some instances, the director will allow the cinematographer complete independence, while in others, the director allows little to none, even going so far as to specify exact camera placement and lens selection. Such a level of involvement

396-535: Is furious, but the situation becomes even more complicated when he discovers that da Silva is none other than the infamous Cobra Verde. As punishment, rather than kill him or have him prosecuted, Dom Coutinho decides to send da Silva on the impossible mission of re-opening the slave trade with Western Africa. The bandit is aware he is likely to be killed in Africa, but accepts anyway. He travels by sea to Dahomey , West Africa (present-day Benin ), where he must negotiate with

440-400: Is less common when the director and cinematographer have become comfortable with each other. The director will typically convey to the cinematographer what is wanted from a scene visually and allow the cinematographer latitude in achieving that effect. The scenes recorded by the cinematographer are passed to the film editor for editing . In the infancy of motion pictures, the cinematographer

484-478: Is the person responsible for the recording of a film , television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera and light crews working on such projects. They would normally be responsible for making artistic and technical decisions related to the image and for selecting the camera, film stock , lenses , filters , etc. The study and practice of this field are referred to as cinematography . The cinematographer

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528-455: The sertão . In a visit to town, da Silva encounters and subdues by force of character an escaping slave, an act that impresses wealthy sugar baron Dom Octávio Coutinho ( José Lewgoy ). Dom Coutinho, unaware that he is dealing with the legendary bandit, hires da Silva to oversee the slaves on his sugar plantation. When da Silva subsequently impregnates all three of the Dom's daughters, the sugar baron

572-523: The Coen brothers ' DP; Jan de Bont , cinematographer on films such as Die Hard and Basic Instinct , directed Speed and Twister . Nicolas Roeg , cinematographer on films such as The Caretaker (1963) and The Masque of the Red Death (1964), directed Don't Look Now (1973) and The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976). Ellen Kuras, ASC photographed Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind as well as

616-753: The Great Depression , his family was unable to make a living in Danzig and moved to Berlin in 1931, where they also experienced financial difficulties. The family settled in an apartment in the Schöneberg district of the city and acquired German citizenship . In 1936, he began attending the Prinz-Heinrichs-Gymnasium  [ de ] in Schöneberg. Kinski was conscripted into the Wehrmacht in 1943 at

660-688: The Karl-Bonhoeffer-Nervenklinik (de) , a psychiatric hospital in West Berlin , for three days after stalking his theatrical sponsor and attempting to strangle her. Medical records from the period listed a preliminary diagnosis of schizophrenia , but the doctors' ultimate conclusion was psychopathy ( antisocial personality disorder ). Kinski soon became unable to secure film roles, and in 1955 he attempted suicide twice. In 2013, more than 20 years after her father's death, Pola Kinski published an autobiography titled Kindermund (or From

704-579: The 1960s and 1970s, he appeared in various European exploitation films , as well as more acclaimed works such as Doctor Zhivago (1965), in which he appeared as an anarchist prisoner on his way to the Gulag . He relocated to Italy during the late 1960s, and found roles in numerous Spaghetti Westerns , including For a Few Dollars More (1965), A Bullet for the General (1966), The Great Silence (1968), Twice A Judas (1969), and A Genius, Two Partners and

748-507: The American war films Decision Before Dawn (1951), A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958), and The Counterfeit Traitor (1962). In Alfred Vohrer 's Die toten Augen von London (1961), his character refused any personal guilt for his evil deeds and claimed to have only followed the orders given to him. Kinski's performance reflected post-war Germany's reluctance to take responsibility for what had happened during World War II. During

792-499: The Atlantic to Brazil. Soon, however, the fickle king has them captured and brought before him. The King accuses da Silva of various crimes that he has no knowledge of, including poisoning the King's greyhound, and sentences him to death. He and Taparica are rescued the night prior to da Silva's decapitation by the King's nephew, who negotiates a blood alliance with da Silva, planning to overthrow

836-409: The King. The ambitious bandit trains an enormous army of native women (who, after learning to use weapons, at first want to kill all men) and leads them on a raid to successfully overthrow King Bossa. Against all expectations, the slave trade is maintained under the new king, thanks to da Silva's resourcefulness. However, da Silva eventually falls out of favour with the new King, and discovers that in

880-775: The actor threatened to walk off the set. Late in the filming of Fitzcarraldo in Peru, the chief of the Machiguenga tribe offered to kill Kinski for Herzog, but the director declined. In 1980, Kinski refused the lead villain role of Major Arnold Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark , telling director Steven Spielberg that the script was "a yawn-making, boring pile of shit" and "moronically shitty". Kinski would go on to play Kurtz, an Israeli intelligence officer, in The Little Drummer Girl ,

924-619: The age of 17, serving in a Fallschirmjäger unit. He saw no action until the winter of 1944, when his unit was transferred to the German-occupied Netherlands and he was captured by the British Army on his second day of combat. In his 1988 autobiography, he claimed that he had decided to desert from the Wehrmacht and had been recaptured by German forces and sentenced to death in a court-martial before escaping and hiding in

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968-595: The communal bathroom for 48 hours and broke everything in the room. In March 1956, he made a guest appearance at Vienna 's Burgtheater in Goethe 's Torquato Tasso . Although respected by his colleagues, among them Judith Holzmeister , and cheered by the audience, Kinski did not gain a permanent contract after the Burgtheater's management became aware of his earlier difficulties in Germany. Kinski then unsuccessfully tried to sue

1012-489: The company. Living jobless in Vienna, Kinski reinvented himself as a monologist and spoken word artist. He presented the prose and verse of François Villon , William Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde , amongst others, and toured Austria , Germany, and Switzerland with his shows. Kinski's first film role was a small part in the 1948 film Morituri . He appeared in several German Edgar Wallace movies, and had bit parts in

1056-401: The difficulties in their working relationship. In the same year, director David Schmoeller released a short film entitled Please Kill Mr. Kinski , which examined Kinski's erratic and disruptive behavior on the set of Schmoeller's 1986 film Crawlspace . The film features behind-the-scenes footage of Kinski's various confrontations with the director and crew, along with Schmoeller's account of

1100-472: The documentary My Best Fiend . Kinski's roles spanned multiple genres, languages, and nationalities, including Spaghetti Westerns , horror films , war films , dramas , and Edgar Wallace krimi films. His infamy was elevated by a number of eccentric creative endeavors, including a one-man show based on the life of Jesus Christ , a biopic of violinist Niccolò Paganini directed by and starring himself, and over twenty spoken word albums. Kinski

1144-490: The events, in which he claims a producer offered to murder Kinski for his life insurance money. In 2006, Christian David published the first comprehensive biography of Kinski, based on newly discovered archived material, personal letters and interviews with the actor's friends and colleagues. Peter Geyer published a paperback book of essays on Kinski's life and work. Cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP )

1188-482: The fearsome King Bossa Ahadee of Dahomey (played by His Honour the Omanhene Nana Agyefi Kwame II of Nsein, a village north of the city of Axim, Ghana ). Amazingly, da Silva succeeds in convincing the King to exchange slaves for new rifles. He takes over Elmina Castle and takes Taparica (King Ampaw), sole survivor of the previous expedition, for a partner. They begin operating the slave trade across

1232-504: The meantime Brazil has outlawed slavery and seized his assets, and the British have placed a price on his head. Despite the adversity, da Silva is glad that finally a change has come and recognises that slavery has been a crime. The exhausted bandit goes onto the beach at Elmina and desperately tries to pull a ship's boat to water, but he collapses in the surf as the tide slowly comes in and a crippled African man walks on all fours toward him along

1276-450: The recognition of the cinematographer's contribution to the art and science of motion picture making. There are a number of national associations of cinematographers that represent members (irrespective of their official titles) and are dedicated to the advancement of cinematography, including: The A.S.C. defines cinematography as: A creative and interpretive process that culminates in the authorship of an original work of art rather than

1320-519: The shore. The film ends with a group of confident young African women laughingly chanting over the credits. Cobra Verde was based on Bruce Chatwin 's 1980 novel The Viceroy of Ouidah , which was itself based on the Brazilian slave trader Francisco Félix de Sousa and his role in helping King Ghezo overthrow his brother Adandozan as King of Dahomey with the help of Ghezo's Dahomey Amazons . Herzog approached Chatwin about adapting his work into

1364-676: The simple recording of a physical event. Cinematography is not a subcategory of photography. Rather, photography is but one craft that the cinematographer uses in addition to other physical, organizational, managerial, interpretive and image-manipulating techniques to effect one coherent process. The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work on one particular motion picture . A number of cinematographers have become directors, including Reed Morano who lensed Frozen River and Beyoncé's Lemonade before winning an Emmy for directing The Handmaid's Tale . Barry Sonnenfeld , originally

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1408-462: The two was contentious; Herzog had threatened, on occasion, to murder Kinski. In one incident, Kinski was said to have been saved by his dog who attacked Herzog as he crept up to supposedly burn down the actor's house. Herzog has refused to comment on his numerous other plans to kill Kinski. However, he did pull a gun on Kinski, or at least threatened to do so, on the set of Aguirre, the Wrath of God, after

1452-599: The woods, subsequently encountering a British patrol which shot him in the arm and captured him. After being treated for his wounds and interrogated, he was transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp in Colchester , Essex ; the ship transporting him to Britain was torpedoed by a German U-boat but arrived safely. In his documentary My Best Fiend , Werner Herzog claimed that Kinski had fabricated much of his 1988 autobiography, including claims of maternal sexual abuse , incest , and childhood poverty; according to Herzog, Kinski

1496-468: Was a German actor. Equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality, he appeared in over 130 film roles in a career that spanned 40 years, from 1948 to 1988. He is best known for starring in five films directed by Werner Herzog from 1972 to 1987 ( Aguirre, the Wrath of God , Nosferatu the Vampyre , Woyzeck , Fitzcarraldo , and Cobra Verde ), who would later chronicle their tumultuous relationship in

1540-688: Was actually raised in a financially stable upper middle class family. While interned at Berechurch Hall in Colchester, Kinski played his first roles on stage, taking part in variety shows intended to maintain morale among the prisoners. By May 1945, at the end of the war in Europe , the German POWs were anxious to return home. Kinski had heard that sick prisoners were to be returned first, and tried to qualify by standing outside naked at night, drinking urine and eating cigarettes. He remained healthy, however, and

1584-604: Was always afraid of their father, whom she described as an unpredictable tyrant. Kinski died on 23 November 1991 of a sudden heart attack at his home in Lagunitas, California ; he was 65 years old. His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean. Of his three children, only his son Nikolai attended his funeral. In My Best Fiend , his 1999 documentary about Kinski, Werner Herzog claimed that Kinski had fabricated much of his autobiography, and told of

1628-485: Was born in January 1961. He married his third and final wife, model Minhoi Geneviève Loanic , in 1971. Their son Nikolai Kinski was born in 1976. They divorced in 1979. Kinski published his autobiography, All I Need Is Love , in 1988 (reprinted in 1996 as Kinski Uncut ). The book prompted his second daughter Nastassja Kinski to file a libel suit against him, which she afterward withdrew. In 1950, Kinski stayed at

1672-399: Was fired the following year due to his unpredictable behavior. He found work at other theater companies thereafter, but his emotional volatility regularly got him into trouble. For three months in 1955, Kinski lived in the same boarding house as a 13-year-old Werner Herzog, who would later direct him in a number of films. In My Best Fiend , Herzog described how Kinski once locked himself in

1716-604: Was forced to replace Mauch with Viktor Růžička . Herzog's opinions of Kinski are deeply explored in his 1999 documentary retrospective, My Best Fiend , in which he examines their unique friendship, the associated hatred, and the legacy that both qualities were responsible for. The filming of Cobra Verde and the relationship of Herzog and Kinski was also the subject of a 1987 Swiss documentary film titled Location Africa . Klaus Kinski Klaus Kinski ( German: [klaʊs ˈkɪnskiː] , born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991)

1760-527: Was key during the silent movie era; with no sound apart from background music and no dialogue, the films depended on lighting, acting, and set. The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) was formed in 1919 in Hollywood , and was the first trade society for cinematographers. Similar societies were formed in other countries. For example, the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC). Their aims include

1804-410: Was prone to emotional and often violent outbursts aimed at his directors and fellow cast members, issues complicated by a history of mental illness . Herzog described him as "one of the greatest actors of the century, but also a monster and a great pestilence." Posthumously, he was accused of physically and sexually abusing his daughter Pola . His notoriety and prolific output have developed into

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1848-507: Was returned to Germany in 1946. Arriving in Berlin, he learned his father had died during the war, and his mother had been killed in an Allied air attack on the city. After his return to Germany, Kinski started out as an actor, first at a small touring company in Offenburg , where he first used the name "Klaus Kinski". In 1946, he was hired by the renowned Schlosspark-Theater in Berlin, but he

1892-428: Was the last film Werner Herzog made with Klaus Kinski. Their now-legendary personality conflict peaked during the film. The film's production was especially affected by Kinski's fiery outbursts. The cast and crew were continually plagued by Kinski's wrath, most famously culminating in the film's original cinematographer Thomas Mauch walking out on the project after a perpetual torrent of verbal abuse from Kinski. Herzog

1936-417: Was usually also the director and the person physically handling the camera. As the art form and technology evolved, a separation between director and camera operator emerged. With the advent of artificial lighting and faster (more light-sensitive) film stocks , in addition to technological advancements in optics, the technical aspects of cinematography necessitated a specialist in that area. Cinematography

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