ABSTRACT
Film music is a good way for films to differentiate from the mainstream and to mark out a space for themselves as highly singular. Acclaimed director Werner Herzog's early films, including such classics as Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972) and Fitzcarraldo (1982), exploited the otherworldy ethereal music of German ensemble Popol Vuh. Sounding very different from traditional film scores, Popol Vuh's often religious-inspired music furnished a unique sonic valence to Herzog's highly distinctive films, a number of which will be discussed here.
