9 Classic Movie Scenes That Were Awful To Film

The stories about German director Werner Herzog are legion. Rescuing Joaquin Phoenix from a car wreck, getting shot during an interview, appearing in the new Star Wars TV show for some reason. His maddest moments came during the filming of Fitzcarraldo, the story of a Peruvian rubber baron who dragged an enormous steamship from one side of a mountain to another.

Herzog decided that the best thing to do for the purposes of his film was to actually drag a steamship over a mountain. He rocked up in Peru with three 320 ton ships, and proceeded to cajole the natives into hoisting the vessel for the purposes of his vision.

The shoot was cursed from the off, with actors dropping out and indigenous extras picking up injuries (one man was bitten by a snake, and cut his own foot off to avoid the spread of poison). Leading man Klaus Kinski was so hated by the locals that they rallied behind Herzog, whose relationship with Kinski was similarly rocky, and managed to carry off the fea

The story of a man’s mad quest against the elements is brilliantly realised in the German classic, but the real drama was going on behind the scenes. In making the picture, Herzog played the lead role behind the camera.