Stories about indigenous tribes' encounters with white men almost
never turn out well....for the natives, anyway. History is too littered with
examples of entire clans being sacrificed, uprooted, or enslaved to the needs
of expansion or business interests. Those who fought back were usually
slaughtered, wiped out with all of their knowledge lost forever. It's a sad,
brutal history, and that backdrop informs every frame of Ciro Guerra's
stunningly beautiful, deeply thematic Embrace
of the Serpent, a film that within moments establishes itself as a must-see
for those looking for something truly original.
Shot in exquisite black and white with a lush Amazonian locale,
the film looks like a restored adventure classic, think Alan Quartermain if he
were traveling into the heart of darkness. Set in the early 20th century, the
story is loosely based on the writings of two explorers whose work comprises
much of what we know about the ancient South American tribes. While a wholly
fictional piece, you'll be instantly overwhelmed by the authentic period
details, feeling as if a passenger on this mysterious, dangerous, and soulful
expedition.
From the moment we meet the stoic tribal shaman, Karamakate
(Nilbio Torres), standing on the water's edge with his face paint and muscular
frame, we know he's not the type to suffer white men easily. We know he stands
as a bulwark against their encroachment into ancestors' lands, he stands as a
wall against rampant colonialism. That much is confirmed when a boat carrying
an ailing white man, Theo (Jan Bijvoet) and his native companion, arrives on
shore in need of help. That's not going to happen. Karamakate is the last of
his clan, having seen them wiped out by the whites seeking to make a profit in
the rubber trade. While all seems hopeless, Theo makes the one offer he can,
and that's to take Karamakate to a place where some of his tribe may remain.
While he refuses at first out of anger and distrust, the chance to rebuild cannot
be overlooked, and Karamakate agrees to accompany Theo and help get him back to
full health.
What follows is a strange, wonderfully exotic quest that examines
the impact of rapid colonization and the obsessive thirst for knowledge.
Karamakate, who is played by two different men in two different time periods,
is understandably full of rage over what has happened to his people, and his
early interactions with Theo are brusk, insulting. Years later, an aging
Karamakate (played by Antonio Bolivar Salvado Yangiama) has a much
different outlook on life when he encounters another white man, Evan (Brionne
Davis), who is searching for the healing plant that supposedly saved Theo's
life. Reconciling the two very different versions of Karamakate is one of
the film's great joys, as Guerra skillfully sews the seeds of his evolution
through pointed conversations and, occasionally, comic misadventures.
Beneath the beautiful, naturalistic imagery there lurks something
dark and edgy, even frightening, making it impossible to forget the black
reality of what happened to these indigenous clans. A latter encounter with a
dangerous religious cult devolves into horror, a sequence that is so disturbing
it nearly overwhelms the rest of the film which has unfolded in a deliberate
manner. But there are is plenty of humor to be found in the many cultural
clashes, smartly woven with considerable insight. For instance, a lost piece of
technology that falls into the hands of natives becomes a funny and
thought-provoking discussion about the negative intellectual impacts of such
technology, a topic we still wrestle with today.
Rating: 4 out of 5
