Cobra Verde

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Cobra Verde

1988,

1h 50m,

Drama

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Watchlist

88%

17 Reviews

Tomatometer

76%

2,500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

17 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Francisco Manoel da Silva (Klaus Kinski) plays an enterprising young Brazilian who, after impregnating the three daughters of his plantation-owning employer, is sent to West Africa to round up slaves. Francisco goes to great lengths to befriend the very people he hopes to enslave -- eventually managing to overthrow a mad monarch and set himself up as king.

Mark Holcomb

Time Out

Mar 24, 2007

4/6

The type of crazed, folkloric epic that Germany's own De Niro-Scorsese duo usually excelled at.

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A.O. Scott

New York Times

Mar 23, 2007

4.5/5

The final third of this film contains sequences of horrifying sublimity and ethereal beauty, moments that have a clarity and power beyond the reach of reason.

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J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

Mar 20, 2007

Verde is too blankly amoral to sustain interest, but the film has isolated moments of haunting poetry.

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

Nov 10, 2023

Kinski lends burning charisma...

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Octavi Marti

El Pais (Spain)

Apr 7, 2020

In Cobra Verde, Herzog is an imitation of himself. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Jun 6, 2015

B-

The underwritten dramatization is saved by the stunning surreal visuals.

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Draco L

Nov 4, 2017

As always Klaus Kinski portrays a larger-than-life character, as always Werner Herzog tackles with the seemingly impossible tasks of location shooting with a lot of extras. This time the story concerns slavery just before it was abolished altogether, the last vestiges of this horrible activity performed by humanity. The last shot of Kinski's helpless attempts of trying to move a boat to water is haunting and symbolic. This last collaboration nevertheless lacks the mystical power of their previous efforts.

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Draco G

Sep 14, 2017

Too many drawn out shots of things Herzog thought was moving. Sure, we will remember them, only because you made us watch them for ten minutes. This artistic aspect undermined the final product. I'm not a fan of Klaus.

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Rey S

Feb 2, 2017

this final work between star & director was awesome

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Werner Herzog

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Francisco Manoel da Silva

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Synopsis

Francisco Manoel da Silva (Klaus Kinski) plays an enterprising young Brazilian who, after impregnating the three daughters of his plantation-owning employer, is sent to West Africa to round up slaves. Francisco goes to great lengths to befriend the very people he hopes to enslave -- eventually managing to overthrow a mad monarch and set himself up as king.

Director: Werner Herzog
Producer: Lucki Stipetic
Screenwriter: Werner Herzog, Bruce Chatwin
Production Co: Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, Werner Herzog Filmproduktion
Genre: Drama
Original Language: German
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 1, 1988, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 15, 2016
Runtime: 1h 50m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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