"Cobra Verde" is a collaboration between West German and Ghana from 1987, so this one will have its 30th anniversary next year. The primary language in here is German and director Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski collaborated here one final time to make this movie. It is not the first film that takes the two to exotic places obviously. The movie runs for 110 minutes approximately and has Kinski play a man who is in charge of supervising slaves, but then he is sent to Africa where he is the only White guy among so so many Black people. Of course, the blonde hair (slightly gray already by then) helps in creating the big contrast in physicality. I cannot say I am familiar with any of the other actors here. Herzog directed of course, but he also wrote the script and for that he adapted Bruce Chatwin's novel. While I love Herzog and Like Kinski, I must say that this film felt a bit like a poor man's version of some of the other work from the duo such as Fitzcarraldo (never been too big on "Aguirre"). The story dragged on quite a few occasions and I must say that overall I did not feel that this was a really exciting movie. Insanity always played a major role, in front of the cameras and certainly also behind the cameras with the volcano that is Klaus Kinski. I would not say that this is a good choice to start getting into Herzog's filmography. I am not at all saying that it was a failure, but it just left me hoping for a better movie and it's far from the best Herzog and Kinski have come up with together. But why would you want to start with this one as it's also a fairly later career effort from Kinski and he was already 60 here. Only 3 Italien films should follow until his death less than five years later. I guess he was probably past peak already for this one too. I don't recommend the watch. Thumbs down.

There are more dazzlingly brilliant images in ten minutes of this minor epic than you'll probably find in two dozen of the current brainless hits at the top of the charts: if you want easy laughs and dopey characters, this is not your film.On the surface, Cobra Verde concerns a one-off slightly mad killer who becomes master of an African slave trade; what makes it fascinating is a series of very strange set-pieces: hundreds of half-naked female warriors with spears and red knit caps training on the beach; a daft prince staring into space while his brother in lavish gold garb drinks of out his enemy's half-skull, miles of white flag-wielding messengers stretched into green jungle reaches--its wild! This film is really not much about plot or depth of character but a mad visual adventure and on that level it succeeds in a way that is typical of Werner Herzog's mad follies--it's a macabre feast!

I have to admit the plot of "Cobra Verde" was less impressive and coherent than I anticipated (or hoped…) to be, but it doesn't matter all that much, because this is purely Klaus Kinski's movie. Even though the status and reputation of this movie is too often overshadowed by reports of conflicts & hostility between the director and the lead star, Werner Herzog still undeniably brings some sort of homage to Kinski here. During a lot of scenes, the camera just purposelessly follows him around and there's an incredibly large amount of shots that simply show his facial expressions, and more particularly his insanity-filled eyes, in extreme close-ups. Much more than any film of his that I've seen so far, "Cobra Verde" represents Kinski's most obsessive performance. The lovely title refers to the nickname of Francisco Manuel Da Silva, obviously played by Kinski. At the beginning of the film Da Silva is an ordinary early 19th Century Brazilian farmer mourning over the loss of a beloved one, but in no time he promotes himself into a relentless bandit. His charisma and fearful influence on the locals have him spotted by a sugar-plantation tycoon, who engages Cobra Verde to guard his slaves. But when he impregnates not just one but all three daughters of his employer, Cobra Verde is exiled to Africa to recruit a new slaves and deport them to Brazil. This is meant to be a certain death mission, as the destination – the kingdom of Dahomey – is at war with its neighbors, forbidding slave trade and its king is possibly the one person on earth madder than Da Silva himself. King Adahee (who, for example, wants all dogs killed because they conspire against humans at night) commands to execute Cobra Verde but he escapes, joins the rebellion and trains the fighting skills of an army of over a 1.000 topless women! The screenplay, adapted from a novel by the acclaimed writer Bruce Chatwin, is slightly disappointing because the study on colonialism is rather clichéd, one-dimensional and shallow. The slaves wear chains around their necks, yet the walk around singing and smiling to the crazed white man. The multiple sequences involving mass activity, for example Kinski training the warrior women and a cross-country human telegraph line, as well as the portrayal of typically African rites (dancing and a lot singing) are visually staggering but admittedly they add very little substance. "Cobra Verde" is, as extendedly stated above, a purely brilliant one-man Kinski show. From the scenes where he dominantly arrives in Africa, wearing a grotesque Napoleonesque hat, to the unsettling climax in which he vainly attempts to escapes from the continent as well as from his own personal demons, Kinski is one indescribably fascinating & compelling individual.

"Cobra Verde" is probably the less brilliant movie that Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski made together. It's the story of a Portuguese bandit that eventually becomes the Viceroy of some African region (when Portugal had some colonies over there).This time the making of the film wasn't as chaotic as it was in "Aguirre" or "Fitzcarraldo", what let Herzog recreate himself filming the deserted landscapes and the native women, and that's precisely what spoils the movie's rhythm. It looks like Herzog fell in love so much with those African natives that he couldn't help to fill dozens of sequences with their rites and their dance (and that stuff does not contribute in anything to the story).Anyway, "Cobra Verde" is just a MUST SEE for those who really like the madman Kinski (just like I do) , because he released his temper and his anger one more time in this performing. You can never know when Kinski is gonna explode.*My rate: 6/10