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Aguirre: The Wrath of God

Aguirre: The Wrath of God

1972
Drama, Adventure
1h 35m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 74.81% from 3596 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(3596)
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Rated 07 Feb 2007
98
99th
Here we have three talents at the top of their games. Florian Fricke (Popul Vuh) delivers his finest score, an otherworldly miasma of odd sounds. Klaus Kinski is hypnotic as the megalomaniacal title character, driven by ambition and delusion. And Werner Herzog does what he does best: transports us to strange and exotic corners of existence, setting up one mysterious image after another. Haunting and mesmerizing.
Rated 22 Feb 2007
94
99th
Stunningly gorgeous film that perfectly captures the vast wilderness of the jungle and the depths of human ambition and madness. Kinski is compelling as the mad Aguirre, and the movie is filled with haunting scenes detailing the consequences of his delusionary cruelty.
Rated 23 Feb 2007
5
91st
A hallucinatory march towards death, led by a maniacal visionary with an unslakeable thirst for power. Here, nature is no less than a malevolent entity, ancient and awesome beyond reason or reckoning, against which the petty desires and grievances of man appear utterly trivial.
Rated 01 Feb 2007
100
98th
It's hypnotic. It's impossible to look away.
Rated 24 Jul 2007
95
98th
Aguirre personifies three things: He is the admirably inexhaustible, gloriously unrelenting spirit of man; he's the very essence of gluttony, greed, stupidity and vileness; and he is indeed, exactly as his insanity drives him to proclaim, "the wrath of god" in the sense that he is a punishment to everyone and everything around him. Herzog achieves a singular portrait of humanity, both ridiculous and grim, by eliminating the boundaries between the three.
Rated 30 Jun 2007
100
99th
The Werner Herzog masterpiece Aguirre: The Wrath of God, is a surreal yet straight forward look at the insane Don Lope de Aguirre, and his expedition to El Dorado. Aguirre is played brilliantly by Klaus Kinski, and is masterfully directed by Werner Herzog. This film is a remarkable achievement. Herzog greatly shows the dangers of the jungle, and the insanity people reach when they have just had enough. From beginning to end, Aguirre is beautifully shot, and is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Rated 24 Nov 2017
99
99th
The emotionally distant father of Apocalypse Now and Predator - It doesn't take an algorithm to decode my taste, I just like movies about people going insane in the jungle. Popul Vuh's detached, dreamlike score counters Herzog's physically focused 'in-the-thick-of-it' direction to produce a truly spellbinding effect, a quasi-religious experience for nihilists.
Rated 21 Jan 2007
14
6th
what a turd
Rated 28 Apr 2008
97
99th
Klaus Kinski is a madman (both in real life and in the film) and Herzog has balls of steel. Combine the two with a great story and turbulent production, and this is what you get - A haunting portrayal of madness and human ambition, which oh so often are the same thing.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
95
98th
Only after you see this you get to understand from where people like Terrence Malick got the inspiration to make their movies. A true classic with a very very cheap production but smart and visionary ideas to make up for everything else.
Rated 22 May 2007
92
94th
As with many of Herzog's (and Kinski's) films, a celluloid representation of a man going mad. However, this film is the one Herzog has not yet been able to top, an epic film with Kinski giving one of the great performances in the history of cinema. Beautiful and haunting.
Rated 29 Jul 2009
97
99th
Folly is driving this story, but is also readily apparent in the production. Instead of jarring you out of the experience this parallel swallows you whole... There is a madman loping around terrorising with his gaze, and you are now one of his captives. Disbelief is no defence. All there is now is a pervasive fog of derangement and the unrelenting flow of the river.
Rated 07 Aug 2009
5
99th
You can feel Aguirre's eyes calculating on the sidelines for the first half of the movie, and then suddenly he's living out his insane, grandiose dreams. And then failing, brutally. The film is set in a world of madness, where everything - nature, greed, and gold - conspire to destroy him and his absurd expedition.
Rated 16 Nov 2011
94
99th
If you only ever watch a single movie in which a monkey craps on Klaus Kinski, make it this one.
Rated 29 Aug 2019
86
95th
Aguirre: The Wrath of God - It's about a man's descent into madness! Also Aguirre: The Wrath of God - the man is played by the most batshit insane looking guy to ever walk the earth.
Rated 19 Sep 2007
5
96th
While I'm much more in love with the premise than the execution, you still couldn't do much better than this. Heart of Darkness with insane Spanish conquistadors? Count me in. The final scene of Aguirre addressing hundreds of monkeys creates a haunting and affective portrait of madness, and Kinski is a total beast.
Rated 28 Jun 2008
6
99th
Mad man's death march toward oblivion, an inescapable torrent, the great equalizer of the immutable forces in the natural world. Mesmerizing and transporting. The extraordinary filming conditions are borne out in the immediacy of the camera, the intensity of the performances, and the cosmic waves of sound. Herzog's determination to create such a piece may be the mirror of Aguirre's own mania, but where the conquistador's vision is folly, the filmmaker's is transcendent.
Rated 22 Jul 2009
96
95th
The definitive descent into madness.
Rated 27 Mar 2010
96
96th
A meandering but hypnotic wander into the inane and the insane, where both have equal relevance. Herzog films the doomed, mad expedition like a documentarian, preferring fleeting glimpses and moments, such as actors holding butterflies. It really feels like Herzog went back in time; with the quiet menace (and real peril) of the jungle and the river on display, it's a wonder how this was actually filmed. It all makes the ending a thing of beauty: a palpable, realistic hell.
Rated 10 Jul 2015
100
98th
One of the all-time great films, as man is forced to come to terms with his own mortality in the face of an uncaring habitat. Kinski, although mostly silent, is a mad force on the raft, giving, arguably, his best performance. The film is slightly disorienting, as the same feeling of madness that inflicts the characters washes over the viewer. The jungle scenery feels oppressive and closed-in, making sure the viewer never gets a chance to breathe.
Rated 09 Jan 2007
100
98th
Motherfucker.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
7
84th
Beautifully shot, plotless. I can see how more artistically savvy people than me might love it more than I do, but I can still respect the power of the visuals, Klaus Kinski's insanity, and those tiny fucked up monkey things.
Rated 23 Oct 2008
90
95th
Kinski does a good job in Aguirre but honestly spoken he's not the one who turns Aguirre into a masterpiece. The most impressing features are the camera work of Thomas Mauch that creates a wild image of the jungle and the almost documentary but artful directing of Werner Herzog that make you feel the conflicts between the major characters. Almost unbelievable under what terrible conditions Aguirre: The wrath of god was made.
Rated 08 Dec 2008
50
44th
amazing and beautiful scenery, amazing how the movie was shot, tough actors, sure a bad-ass crew, ... but the movie itself was boring
Rated 18 Apr 2009
11
99th
Hell caught on camera. This is Herzog's best and what a delusional hypnotic journey it is. Klaus Kinski is there for the ride and gives the most menacing performance ever.
Rated 21 Apr 2013
92
95th
When in the jungle, religion, power, greed, pride, and dengue fever don't mix, and German Spaniards are no match for Amazon whirlpools.
Rated 04 Oct 2013
9
99th
simultaneously a microcosm of larger social structures and a metaphor for the archetypal human, aguirre is a mythological masterpiece.
Rated 18 Jun 2015
95
96th
You know Werner you can do all of this easily on a set it wouldn't be so ha-"NO I MUST FEEL THE CINEMA SUFFER AND TASTE THE WIND OF DESPAIR AND ANGUISH AND PAINT IT WITH THE LIGHT OF GOD"
Rated 19 Dec 2006
70
52nd
It has some amazingly beautiful long shots and also quite a lot really boring ones. Aguirre, here, sort of symbolizes the humanity's egomanism and the crooked perception of the nature. The key to enjoy this film is, I think, not to focus on the characters, including Aguirre, but to realise the undertone of the everpresent human-nature relationship.
Rated 24 Jun 2008
96
97th
Kinski is terrifying as the vicious madman Aguirre. He is absolutely larger than life.
Rated 31 Aug 2008
97
90th
Herzog's classic tale of Don Lope de Aguirre. Perceptive, relevant and ambitious, this is a savage onlook of the true events that transpired in the search for El Dorado. Klaus Kinski is delusionary as the vicious, crazed madman himself. No doubt his defining role. This is Herzog's definite classic Adventure with virtually no flaws at all.
Rated 28 Apr 2009
5
98th
A strangely hypnotic and somewhat lyrical experience. The plot or lack of it is not important, you will remember this because of its many unique scenes and Kinski's unsettling performance. A boat perched in the top of a tree, an uncontrollable and dirty river, a monkey in the hands of a madman. Fantastic.
Rated 09 Jun 2010
95
99th
It's not a descent into madness. It's an acknowledgment that we were always mad.
Rated 30 Dec 2010
89
90th
If there was a difficulty level multiplier for rating movies, no movie can beat this one. I'm in awe of the level of risk taken for its realisation. Humanity's endless ability to miscalculate its situation is the well of masterpieces. Whether it is in Congo, Vietnam or in the Andes we can't follow the rivers; but we will always believe that we can and find ourselves stranded.
Rated 26 Mar 2011
70
39th
What's the big fucking deal only I missed?
Rated 23 Feb 2007
99
99th
An incredible film. One of the best endings I've seen in any movie.
Rated 20 Mar 2007
99
98th
A masterpiece in cinematic technique. Impossible to turn away from, and addicting to the point where you find yourself scheduling weekly viewings.
Rated 22 Aug 2007
85
88th
One of the best openingscenes ever - Insanely beautiful scenery following the descent of the conquistadores into the jungle. I loved the 'bystander-views', and the overall shooting, storywise it started off with a very promising story but it kinda faded when the movie progressed. Actingwise, nothing to complain about; Klaus Kinski perfectly plays the ruthless and insane Aguirre.
Rated 13 Sep 2007
50
15th
This is an interesting movie, however, I did not find it very enjoyable. Great scenery and some good acting, but it did not work form me.
Rated 28 Aug 2008
75
65th
A bit slow-paced for me, but if you can get used to that it's pretty much as good as it can get. It gets better and better towards the end, and the last 10 minutes are nothing short of spectacular. Story didn't really capture me until pretty late in the film, but I still enjoyed it vastly.
Rated 09 Jan 2009
78
66th
Good movie and was beautiful and well made. The only thing wrong with it is that very few things actually happen. It just kind of feels a bit empty.
Rated 31 Mar 2009
70
54th
Some of the shots here are pretty amazing, esp. the ones on the rafts, the staring-into-the-camera scenes, and the final scene. I believe there are some subtleties to the simple plot that I missed, so I wouldn't mind watching it again.

I'm not an animal rights activist by any means, but the animal cruelty in this movie is kind of off-putting.
Rated 21 Apr 2009
88
88th
Dreamlike, Aguirre is deceptively powerful despite its simple somewhat quaint approach. Kinski is diabolical and his 'la..la,la..la,la' henchman can send shivers down one's spine. This methodical masterpiece would only be helped by a more complete development of the female characters as well as the black slave, the men, and the 'Kaiser of El Dorado'. Regardless a beautiful soundtrack and the well place poetry readings carry a neo noir touch that fills in blanks captivating the audience.
Rated 11 Aug 2009
89
91st
Whenever Kinski is silent on screen for a long period of time, imagine him repeating "I am the wrath of God. I am the wrath of God." over and over again in his head. It's great fun!
Rated 11 Apr 2010
9
98th
Slow paced, compelling, character driven film about a descent into madness. Great to look at, I would have loved to have seen this on the big screen.
Rated 09 Feb 2013
90
92nd
A haunting journey of despair; the more the troupe's peril becomes an inevitability, the more profoundly weird and unsettling the experience is. I'm not surprised, nor am I displeased with image after image of disquiet and death, serenaded by a melancholy choir. Images like when the horse is left on the riverbank and the raft, along with the viewer, just floats away until it's obscured by the jungle, its fate an unsettling mystery. A slow drift into nothingness has never been so enrapturing.
Rated 15 Mar 2013
84
94th
A true masterpiece. I've never seen anything quite like it and probably never will again. The commentary is an absolute must-listen to, as well. The story of making the film is probably as amazing as the film itself. In fact, the tribulations they endured are largely what made the film what it was (eerily similar to Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness).
Rated 12 Nov 2014
93
99th
Out of all the Heart of Darkness films I've seen this one is by far the most uniquely cinematic and intense. Eerily haunting, rough & naturalistic yet dreamlike & surreal. Kinski dominates the space and through Herzog's strange sensibilities, the jungle dominates him right back. This chilling dynamic enforces the story to its bitter end.
Rated 10 Dec 2014
95
96th
Aguirre documents a journey into madness. Herzog manages to incorporate the feverish sentience of the environment into his characters, especially Aguirre himself, until we're no longer sure if we're witnessing the delirium that eventually makes up his own reality. I've always felt that Aguirre represents an unwelcome civilisation that's being consumed by the jungle in some way. Popol Vuh's score is brilliant, and also integral to the film's build up of tension.
Rated 21 Oct 2016
75
48th
I love many Herzog films, but this quite simply seems overrated. There are some lasting images in this film, and anyone can appreciate Kinski's extraordinary presence, but it falls a bit flat, especially with such an initially intriguing premise and setting.
Rated 14 Jul 2020
85
84th
A brutal voyage into (and away from) Godliness - Nature here reckons on all fronts, from production to narrative, and Herzog leaves endless room for its wrath.
Rated 08 Jan 2007
89
92nd
A fantastically beautiful film with a performance from Kinski that truly inhabits the character. As the film progresses he takes over more and more and the descent into madness is probably one of the best film portrayals ever.
Rated 24 Feb 2007
77
80th
Herzog's style feels very much like a documentary, as we are an unknown crew member witnessing these events right along side these men on their journey into madness.
Rated 19 Mar 2007
97
97th
This is the movie that looks inward on insanity and reality. It's a wonderful piece that as intense as it is good. Excellent direction by Herzog and incredible acting by Kinski. One of the best foreign films I've ever seen.
Rated 10 May 2007
10
98th
Herzog's brooding masterpiece, whereby the age old tale of man's quest for El Dorado, the city of gold, quickly turns into a dive into the depths of insanity. It's more than an acute analogy, it's a look into the abyss that exists in all of us and of the reasons and the truths we make for ourselves that are perhaps the beginnings of frustrations and desires that will mark our own ruin. Kinski is a presence to be seen, the epic scenery that provides the backdrop is a journey one must take!
Rated 14 Aug 2007
86
88th
Fascinating, absurd, terrible movie, memorable
Rated 14 Aug 2007
95
99th
The best of Herzog's numerous great movies.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
75
89th
Excellent film.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
98
98th
A haunting and very mesmorizing film.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
91
98th
Klaus Kinski is great at playing nutters, and I can't remember him being better than he is here. Ditto Herzog, who has created a masterpiece. Don't let the slow start put you off - stick with it and be mesmerised.
Rated 23 Sep 2007
30
6th
A lotta pompous nonsense from an Art Guy. Some cool visual effects (like the opening fog)--but unfortunately that fog seems to seep into the script. And that thing with the monkeys at the end...ooh, a message. I get it (I'm back in the classroom again).
Rated 10 Nov 2007
95
99th
Klaus Kinski is not as much the Wrath of God as the God himself in this film! Although his role is rather demonic :-)
Rated 30 Dec 2007
100
98th
Kinski plays one of the most over-the-top charismatic lunatics ever created. From his stilted stance to his odd choice when using numbers, he is truly unlike anything else. And Herzog was born to film in the jungle.
Rated 14 Mar 2008
93
96th
Herzog's documentary-styled conquistador tale is both a fantastic character piece and a glimpse into the savage 16th century South American landscape. His trademark weirdness is here (characters staring blankly into the camera, long shots of nature doing its thing), but the centerpiece here is the brilliantly maniacal Aguirre played with scary precision by Klaus Kinski. It's truly one of film's most frightening and memorable performances. Great movie.
Rated 20 Apr 2008
60
55th
This is what really happens when you go out in search of adventure, everyone dies. None of those fancy riches or heroism crap of Gygaxian fame.
Rated 02 May 2008
90
91st
Unrivaled and lyrical; a woolgathering masterpiece.
Rated 30 Jun 2008
100
92nd
This movie has to be seen to be believed
Rated 09 Dec 2008
90
90th
An incredible journey into madness with some of the most realistic and disturbing performances I have ever seen. Kinski's pale blue eyes and drunken swagger will haunt me forever.
Rated 03 Jun 2009
65
63rd
Klaus Kinski is perfect for this demented portrayal of Aguirre. The shots were beautiful, whether they were climbing the mountains or navigating the rivers on their rafts. The film, however, was on the boring side.
Rated 08 Jun 2009
98
99th
Stunning shots and the entire film gives off this lord of the flies feel to it as everything starts going wrong and everyone turns against each other. Kinski is wonderful as the opportunistic Aguirre who does anything to get his way and is completely and utterly detached from reality.
Rated 13 Dec 2009
100
98th
Haunting somewhat minimalistic film. Herzog presents a story of greed, ambition and madness. Kinski is superb portraying Aguirre - a man who is driven to find El Dorado in order to create a legacy regardless of the well being of the people he leads. The score is haunting and helps to emphasize the hopelessness and eventual descent into madness of the expedition.
Rated 18 Dec 2009
9
91st
Herzog economiza nos diálogos e filma cenas impressionantes: o navio preso ao alto de uma árvore, a esposa do comandante assassinado se dirigindo contundentemente á floresta e desaparecendo, Aguirre na balsa em meio ao seus homens mortos e entre dezenas de macacos. Destaque para a coragem de Herzog em se embrenhar no meio da Amazônia em situações adversas e extrair, juntamente com uma equipe reduzida e uma dezena de atores e índios, um filme belo.
Rated 20 Dec 2009
75
63rd
Guy's float down a river and kill each other
Rated 21 Dec 2009
97
97th
Kinski, playing the part of a madman and megalomaniac, seems like a man possessed; part of the power of this film is that it is impossible to separate the two. The cinematography reveals a jungle that glows like a luxurious bad dream, and, although the narrative is episodic and fragmented, it mirrors--and intensifies our involvement with--the fragmented man who is at the heart of this film.
Rated 06 Jan 2010
90
95th
A very good piece of filmmaking! It's just unimaginable that all this was taken in real jungle. It's not so much Kinski that makes this film outstanding but the camera work and set design. It even makes up for a relatively slow plot development.
Rated 01 Dec 2010
92
96th
Mesmerizing in every way. The journey of the expedition is captured beautifully by Herzog, the jungle is a character in itself. The score is unique and powerful, and Klaus Kinski is brilliant and completely insane.
Rated 09 Dec 2010
70
69th
I'm not gonna lie, I really wanted to love this (and a PSI of 95 kinda suggests I should), but something just didn't click for me. It felt sort of empty and emotionless. It picked up in the final 20 minutes once Kinski's madness really kicked in and the scale of his folly started to reveal itself - and there are some truly memorable scenes, but I was expecting more. Maybe a re-watch will be more rewarding. Loved the music, though.
Rated 24 Sep 2011
100
99th
Truly Herzog's masterwork. I wasn't the biggest fan the first time I saw it. But after a 2nd viewing, I am amazed at all the things I missed. Every single shot, every little detail is just flawlessly captivating.
Rated 27 Sep 2011
97
97th
holy shit
Rated 18 Dec 2011
75
67th
Compelling characters, beautiful visuals, and an efficient run time keep this movie's head above water. Had Herzog decided to tack on a few more scenes or extend some of the lingering shots it might have become more of an art piece than an actual movie. As it stands it's a good depiction of madness, isolation, and the fear of the unknown.
Rated 08 Dec 2012
30
18th
A doomed expedition to South America in search of El Dorado, the lost city of gold. This movie is full of stupid eery music, poor acting and psychotic ramblings. If nobody was left alive, I wonder how the writings from the priest managed to survive. Aquirre was a psycho with dreams of conquest, searching for power, fame and riches, but his unrelenting journey only led to death for everyone in his party. Poor production and terrible storytelling.
Rated 06 Mar 2013
100
99th
A stunningly beautiful descent into madness. A haunting tale of hubris and delusion. Certainly lives up to the hype.
Rated 29 Jul 2013
97
98th
The long arrows are becoming fashionable.
Rated 18 Oct 2013
88
94th
Absolutely wild.
Rated 23 Jan 2014
80
80th
A naked and candid hallucination and a hypnotic journey into madness, but sometimes excessive in its aimless pacing.
Rated 30 Nov 2014
58
75th
Arrogance and greed seasoned with a touch of insanity. Expected more.
Rated 02 Jul 2015
100
99th
Herzog's masterpiece offers a truly dizzying portrayal of madness. The folly of the conquistadors' expedition is apparent from the outset on account of an insurmountable goal and the strict maintenance of hierarchy in the hostile environment, but no man loses it more than the tyrannical Aguirre, whose ultimate fate provides one of cinema's most lasting images. It's hard to look away for even a moment, because Kinski is simply perfect.
Rated 02 Jul 2015
88
91st
Herzog applies the fantastical within a naturalistic framework and while requiring in itself boring and meandering scenes to establish the latter, the overal contrast as result of the two is more exotic and hypnotizing than the environment we traverse through. The variables that move the protaganist further unto the road to madness, similarly to Apocalypse Now, reside in the subtext--further adding to the boredom. Also: sunken cost fallacy to the max.
Rated 10 Dec 2017
80
92nd
I'm not quite as enamoured with Aguirre as other cinephiles, but it's an otherwordly journey into man's heart of darkness shot with Herzog's characteristic blend of artifice and documentary realism which creates a uniquely surreal effect that resists categorisation. Kinski is excellent as Aguirre, an increasingly crazed leader of a doomed expedition whose madness eventually engulfs the mission. Vuh's score is hypnotic, and the final shot of the camera circling the raft is truly extraordinary.
Rated 21 Jun 2018
96
93rd
I always play through scenes of this movie in my head when I listen to "Conquistador" by Procol Harum, which is a lot, because it makes me think about this movie. Fuck what a masterpiece.
Rated 07 Aug 2018
60
51st
Beautifully shot with great scenery. The acting is fairly good if one note. Klaus Kinski is crazy was usual and most of the rest of the cast is not given a lot of detail. The story is a good one but I find that Werner Herzog keeps the viewer disengaged from the proceedings which effects my over all enjoyment. A good movie but fails to be great become the film failed to draw me in.
Rated 10 Apr 2019
100
96th
Herzog manages to make this film's faults work to it's advantage. It's an early film for him, and a spectacularly ambitious project as he shoots in the Amazon under exactly the conditions the film depicts. As one would expect, the film is a little rough around the edges, and some of the actors are not exactly up to the task. This just ends up enhancing the film's near dream logic.
Rated 12 Nov 2019
79
61st
When Aguirre broods by zee panflutist eet iz folly und vrath juxtapozed een zee paradox of life. Und zee beauty of zis symmetry iz zee questions ve must ask. Iz eet zee social gaze zat rocks zee flutist or iz zat gaze reflected back at us in zee pendulum of life's greatest folly? Or iz it zee gaping void ready to swallow us whole? Eet iz neizer, obviously, eet iz neizer.
Rated 22 Jan 2020
97
93rd
A brilliant example of champagne, epic film-making on a beer budget; Herzog captures the sweaty, claustrophobic spiral of Aguirre's descent into madness so subtly that it takes until the third act to realise how far he is gone! Kinski's wild eyes and general disposition also help in what could almost be the Kurtz prequel to APOCALYPSE NOW. An absolute masterpiece.
Rated 14 Jul 2020
85
74th
Certainly one of the more mesmerizing acts that display morality on what the "Wrath of God" beckons mankind to live by. A journey down life's river that never sees the evil, but is captivated by it's baited desires and power. Some amazing and alluring shots throughout.
Rated 21 Nov 2020
75
83rd
The ending monologue and shot, chef's kiss.
Rated 21 Feb 2021
10
99th
RELEASE THE MELLOTRON
Rated 24 May 2023
94
88th
The best of Herzog's epics, stretched between ancient Greek tragedies and DON QUIXOTE, and the best of Kinski by Herzog. For more about the style of Herzog's epics, see the reviews of WOYZECK (1979) and THE ENIGMA OF KASPAR HAUSER (1974).
Rated 31 Jan 2007
96
96th
Great film. There's not much more that needs to be said. Herzog is great and Kinski is great (as always).
Rated 09 Feb 2007
100
98th
Best film ever made.

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