Magellan

This is major filmmaking that feels like it should be instantly added to film canon. Lav Diaz brings one of the grandest pieces of filmmaking from Southeast Asia. Starting from Malacca, he lets us absorb images of dead bodies, all lives lost because of colonial conquest- guided by the Christian king who wants to stop Islamic progress (which reverberates to where we are right now as well). Magellan is a film that is interested more in who Fernão de Magalhães infects in his life from Malacca, back to Portugal with his young new wife, in the deathly voyage across the Pacific Ocean (where there is no one to destroy but fellow colonizers), and finally to the Philippines - where he meets his death. This film feels like a time machine, and a powerful way to reframe the Western story of the Age of Discovery. It is also a challenge to rethink the way myths are created and used to usurp power.