Herzog, always at his best working in insufferable jungle conditions (“Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” “Fitzcarraldo”) is fascinated by stories of extreme will. He’s told this one before, in his 1997 documentary “Little Dieter Needs to Fly,” and it clearly has its hooks in him. The fine cast includes a haunted, haggard Steve Zahn and the jittery, dangerously emaciated Jeremy Davies as fellow prisoners driven half mad by their ordeal. This being a Herzog movie (and a thumping good one), you can’t be sure if they are acting or if their director’s zeal for authenticity has indeed driven them round the bend.
