Selling a contradiction
European fantasies of the Americas, steamboats, and the pursuit of dreams deferred through glorious song…the crossovers are uncanny.
Trailer for the film “Fitzcarraldo” by German director Werner Herzog, starring Klaus Kinski, 1982.
Fitzcarraldo (a.k.a. Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald) is a would-be Irish rubber barron who has to pull a steamship christened the Molly Aida over a hill in order to access the rubber territory. With the anticipated riches gained from tapping the rubber, he dreams of building an opera house. He recruits the local indigenous population to execute the manual labor demanded by his quixotic mission.
Spanish version of the music video for “Karma Chameleon” by the British band Culture Club, 1983. This version adds a layer of language and gender ambiguity because in the translated lyrics, “man” becomes “mujer” (woman). Click here for the original.
In the meantime, the inimitable Boy George sits atop a small mound serenading blacks and whites in post-Civil War, Reconstruction-era Mississippi. The carnivalesque crowd boards a steamship christened “The Chameleon”, where various antics ensue including a heated Poker game between the other members of Culture Club. As a joyful ending, the motley crew chugs away towards a harmonious utopia upriver. Nobody gets hurt (besides getting tossed in the river), and it’s a great party.
