10 Troubled Shoots That Resulted In Great Films
3. Pulling A Real Boat Through The Jungle Is Hard - Fitzcarraldo
When Werner Herzog decided to make Fitzcarraldo, a film about a rubber baron who transports a massive ship through the jungle in order to reach some rubber-rich territory in the Amazon, he insisted on doing everything properly full-sized and on location. Thus begun one of the most difficult film productions ever.
Herzog actually got dozens of extras and local natives to push a massive full-sized boat through a jungle. Not only was this a massive technical feat, but filming in a jungle came with a host of other problems, such as disease, lack of resources, and poor weather. Moving the ship and the tough filming locations meant that injuries were in abundance and there was even a fatality when a crew member drowned.
The cast weren't given any reprieve either. The initial leading man, Jason Robards, had to drop out midway through filming due to illness and was replaced by Herzog's frequent collaborator and frenemy, Klaus Kinski. Herzog had to start filming all over again, but Kinski's temper and tendency to delay shooting angered nearly everyone. In fact, the local natives asked Herzog if it was okay to murder Kinski, to which Herzog had to regretfully decline as he needed Kinski alive to finish his film.
This is method filmmaking at its most terrifying, but at least the film turned out to be pretty damned good in the end.