Fitzcarraldo, a dreamer who plans to bring opera and Enrico Caruso to the South American jungles. With limited funding, he must figure out how to finance the opera house, and ultimately decides to capitalize on South America’s rubber production. He discovers a hidden forest of rubber trees that is well protected by rapids, but the only way to get there is via a river on the other side of a small group of mountains. Fitzcarraldo therefore hires natives to pull his steamship over the mountain.