A journey through the jungle narrative in the vein of Coppola (Apocalypse Now), Herzog (Aguirre), and others. James Gray’s The Lost City of Z the year after in 2016
This is different in two main respects, one- it’s shot in gorgeous super 35mm black and white monochrome, and two, the narrative perspective is with the Karamakate, the native Columbian—a fascinating different—the Serpent here is white man
Dense forest like the work of Apichatpong Weerasethakul—even cuts to the tiger often as symbol
Gorgeous shots of the elections of the trees on the river
Two narratives, a young and older Karamakate character—complex, rich characters- at times it feels like a road trip movie of buddies who are opposites
The night photography struggles a little as it falls into a grainy b/w
A meditation on the nature of colonialism and the historical repercussions- it’s political and allegorical
Turns into a 2001: A Space Odyssey with the gorgeous surreal lightshow
The gramophone marks back to Fitzcarraldo—there’s a bit of Jarmusch’s Dead Man with the black and white outsider fish out of water—
The best part of the film is the volcano set piece gorgeous work—L’Avventura– like architecture as character
[…] Embrace of the Serpent – Guerra […]