Maps of Movies
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Where Fitzcarraldo says it takes place, and where it was really shot.
A 320-ton steamship was really hauled over a hill in Peru, but not between the rivers the film names
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Scenes and places
The gala night Fitzcarraldo rows two days to reach
Fitzcarraldo, a rubber-boom dreamer, will do anything to hear Caruso sing, even row for days to reach the gala. Turned away at the door for lack of a ticket, he insists he will build an opera house of his own. It sets the single wish that drives the film.
Set in An opera house where Caruso sings — Fitzcarraldo and Molly arrive late at a gala performance; he has rowed down the Amazon to hear the tenor.
The film never names this theatre in the sources checked; the German article calls Manaus's Teatro Amazonas the model for the house he wants to build.
Iquitos, the rubber-boom town without an opera house
Fitzcarraldo has failed with a Trans-Andean railway and now tries to make money selling ice. His paramour Molly, a brothel owner, backs his dreams, but the town's rubber barons laugh at them. He needs far more money than ice will bring.
Set in Iquitos — The boom town on the upper Amazon where Fitzcarraldo lives, sells ice and dreams of an opera house. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A river city that boomed on rubber in the early 20th century.
Filmed at Iquitos (Upper Amazon, Iquitos, Peru) — Iquitos is listed among the film's locations; the sources do not say which scenes were shot where. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The map with one rubber region left
A rubber baron shows Fitzcarraldo the last unclaimed rubber land, but rapids block any boat from reaching it. Fitzcarraldo notices that another river, the Pachitea, comes within a few hundred meters of the Ucayali upstream. He leases the land and, with Molly's money, buys an old steamship.
Set in Upper Ucayali rubber parcel — The unclaimed rubber parcel on the Ucayali, cut off from the Amazon by rapids. Google Maps · Apple Maps
The Ucayali is a major tributary of the Amazon; the coordinate here is a single river point, not the parcel.
Up the Pachitea toward hostile country
Fitzcarraldo christens the steamship the SS Molly Aida, recruits a crew and heads up a river no one dares enter. Most of the crew, who do not know his full plan, desert once they reach Indian territory. Only the captain, the engineer and the cook stay.
Set in Pachitea River — The largely unexplored Amazon tributary the SS Molly Aida steams up. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A river where earlier expeditions disappeared; the coordinate is the river, not the shooting site.
Hauling a steamship over a hill
Fitzcarraldo's plan is to pull a 320-ton steamship up a muddy hill and over to the next river. Natives who offer to help work with him for months, using pulleys and the ship's anchor windlass. For him it is the one way to reach the rubber.
Set in Narrow neck between the Pachitea and the Ucayali — The closest point between the two rivers, where the ship must cross a muddy 40-degree hillside.
The real historic isthmus of Fitzcarrald lies about 36 miles east of the filming site.
Filmed at Isthmus between the Urubamba and Camisea rivers (Isthmus, Urubamba and Camisea rivers, Peru) — The ship-hauling scenes were filmed on this isthmus, not between the rivers the film names. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The rapids at the end of the portage
The steamship is on the Ucayali side and the rapids that guard the rubber land lie ahead. The scenes mix shots aboard the real ship with a model for the roughest water.
Set in Rapids of the Ucayali — The stretch of rapids that cut the Ucayali off from the Amazon.
The sources do not say where the rapids scenes were shot.
News of a European opera company in Manaus
Despondent, Fitzcarraldo sells the steamship back to the rubber baron. Before the title changes hands he sends for a European opera company he is told is in Manaus.
Set in Manaus — The Brazilian rubber city where a European opera company is said to be. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A large Amazon city where rubber wealth paid for a theatre; the German article names Rome for some opera scenes.
Filmed at Manaus (Amazon, Manaus, Brazil) — Manaus is listed among the film's locations; the sources do not say which scenes were shot there. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The riverbank in Iquitos
Fitzcarraldo returns to the Iquitos riverfront, and the whole city gathers there.
Set in Iquitos riverbank — The city waterfront. Google Maps · Apple Maps
The film's last stop is the river it began on.
Filmed at Pongo de Mainique (Pongo de Mainique, Urubamba River, Peru) — Listed as a film location; no specific scene is stated Google Maps · Apple Maps
Characters
- Fitzcarraldo (Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald) — An Irishman in the Peruvian rubber boom who dreams of building an opera house in Iquitos.
- Molly — A successful brothel owner who funds Fitzcarraldo's purchase of a steamship.
Questions answered on the map
- Where was the steamship really hauled over the hill in Fitzcarraldo?
- Which Amazon town is the setting of Fitzcarraldo's opera dream?