Tears Of God

Tears of God is a low budget 2007 action/drama film directed by Andy Rakich and distributed by 12th Century Fox. It tells the story of a group of doomed Spanish conquistadors who, in 1561, traveled deep into the Amazon rainforest to find El Dorado.

Summary
Rodrigo and Sancho, former mercenaries turned adventurers, confess to a Friar their past sins. Their slate clean, they join the expedition to discover and conquer the mythical gold paradise El Dorado, led by the charming yet untested Pedro de Ursua. After Ursua gives a rousing ovation to the explorers telling them that what they do is for the good of Spain, Christ, and the King, the conquistadors head off into the South American jungle.

But not everything is as picturesque as it first seems. The infamous conquistador Lope de Aguirre, renowned for being scarred in mind and body, begins to eat at Ursua's authority, and after accidents and ambushes by native warriors, the men begin to look more toward Aguirre than Ursua for leadership.

After Ursua tries to banish Aguirre from camp by sending him on a fool's errand, he turns on Ursua, and the Spaniards soon are fighting amongst themselves, Rodrigo and Sancho in the crossfire. In the chaos, Aguirre stabs Ursua in the back, killing him, and takes command. He orders for all still loyal to Ursua to be killed. Only one escapes, a man who is later found and killed by Aguirre.

Aguirre's reign as captain is brutal and he uses fear to keep his men in line. After one of his own loyalists points out to Aguirre that the expedition is lost, Aguirre seems to lose his mind, asserting that he is in control and will find El Dorado without maps if necessary. He then writes an angry letter to the King of Spain himself, telling him what he has done and plans to do: Use the gold from El Dorado to 'build a better Spain.'

Rodrigo and Sancho, around their campfire, express their doubts about Aguirre's leadership and the survival of the men in the whole outfit.

Now completely paranoid, Aguirre begins to put to death anyone who so much as looks at him strangely. So the men begin to conspire against him, and one evening they resolve to kill Aguirre. The only ones who remain loyal are Rodrigo and Sancho, who reason that meeting fire with fire would make the conspirators 'as much of a monster as Aguirre is.'

But Aguirre catches wind of the plot, and orders his loyalists to take the weapons of the conspirators during the night. In the morning, he tells the men that he alone is 'the great traitor,' and begins to shoot them at will. He orders Rodrigo and Sancho to assist him, but they refuse, saying they will follow no one who asks them to shoot an unarmed man.

At that moment, Indian warriors burst out of the jungle and attack. Rodrigo and Sancho are able to escape the clutches of Aguirre's men, who let their prisoners go to fight back against the Indians. Rodrigo and Sancho run into the forest, seen only by Aguirre, who, having promised that deserters will 'suffer dearly,' runs after them, followed by his loyalists, as the rest of the expedition is wiped out behind them.

Sancho is shot by one of Aguirre's men in the chase that follows, and Rodrigo is forced to carry him on his back. Rodrigo is wounded by a gunshot and collapses, only to watch Sancho die of his wounds.

Rodrigo decides to fight back, and picks off Aguirre's men one by one. Finally, only Rodrigo and Aguirre are left. Aguirre hunts Rodrigo down and the two swordfight on a bank of the Amazon River. In the fighting, Rodrigo manages to slash part of Aguirre's face off. As the stunned villain falls to his knees, Rodrigo cuts off his head.

After a scene showing Rodrigo once more coming to the Friar, asking for forgiveness, the film ends with a black and white, slow motion shot of Rodrigo and Sancho, showing a more peaceful, happier time in Rodrigo's life that he can never return to.

Themes
The film opens with a quote: 'The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.' A recurring theme is that of a superpower that claims that its imperialism is done for 'God, Spain, Christ, and freedom' (as Ursua tells the members of the expedition) when in reality, it is for personal wealth and prestige. In this sense, it is sometimes seen as an allegory for the Iraq War.

On the same vein, Rodrigo begins as a naïve brute seeking adventure and aching to fulfill his destiny. Instead, he marches through hell and comes to realize the price of glory.

Throughout the film, the expedition of the 'civilized' Spanish breaks down into insanity and chaos, leading the viewer to question the nature of empire.

Reception
After its release on November 18, 2007, Tears of God was met with generally positive reviews, praising the suspenseful fight sequences, the acting, and cinematography, while negative reviews criticized the dialogue, extreme violence, special effects, and plot.

DVD release
The Tears of God DVD was released on February 12, 2008. Andy Rakich has debunked rumors that the DVD contains special features.

Historical Accuracy
Although based on true events, the majority of Tears of God is fictional.
*There was no Rodrigo or Sancho. They were an invention of the screenwriters.
*There were about three hundred Native Americans who accompanied the conquistadors. In the film, there is only one, a guide listed in the credits as 'Kapak.'
*When the Indians ambush the Spanish, they let out a war cry that would be better heard from the Cheyenne in the 19th century.
*Pedro de Ursua was killed in his tent at night, not during the day and not after ordering Aguirre to leave camp.
*Lope de Aguirre was probably more brutal and psychotic than portrayed in the movie, so much so that his contemporaries viewed him as the devil incarnate.
*Aguirre never threw his maps off of a cliff. Indeed, he needed them to attack Spanish settlements and complete his grand plan described in the film in his letter to the King of Spain. The maps scene is more reminiscent of when a frustrated Ferdinand Magellan threw his charts overboard while crossing the Pacific Ocean.
*The expedition did not end as shown in the film, but was halted by a company of soldiers loyal to the King, who viewed Aguirre's actions as treason. When Aguirre was captured and shot by the soldiers, the first ball hit him in the shoulder. 'That was poorly aimed,' he sneered. When the second ball hit his heart, he said: 'That has settled the matter.' This dialogue was written into an early draft of the script, but removed at the last minute in favor of the theatrical ending.
*The climactic chase sequence is pure fiction.

=="Sequel"==
Andy Rakich and Pete Konowski plan to film a short self-parody: a trailer for the non-existent Tears of God 2. The director wrote on the subject: "I found it interesting that many people who saw the film thought that the last scene with the priest was a flashback and that it ends with Rodrigo alone in the woods to starve. It's not what I intended, but it's what resonated with people. They said, 'Oh, man, the saddest part of the movie was when I realized that the last guy standing didn't have much time left either.' So we reckoned that the sequel of Tears of God had to be Cast Away." He also claimed that a volleyball with actor Ben Boegehold's face on it will make an appearance in the mock trailer.

Cast
Rodrigo…Pete Konowski

Sancho…Ben Boegehold

Lope de Aguirre…Andy Rakich

Pedro de Ursua…Justin Billing

Inez…Sophie Hadingham

Kapak…Sherry Ng

Diego…Carl Sailor

Alfonso...Alex Romania

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See Also

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