Zama

The radiant colors of fire sparks in the night, shocking pink native dyes and lush green moss, and oscillating cascades of sound including exotic guitar, electronic interludes and soothing lapping waves, these and other rich innovations bring extra zip to the already thrilling story of Don Diego de Zama. Zama, a Spanish administrator in 1700s South America, refuses to adjust to his surroundings and instead pines for the continent and habits he left long ago. As his expected transfer to Spain hangs in limbo, Zama's paranoia about the dangers of the local landscape and hostility towards those of different races, increases. He lives in a bubble of his own creation. Yet if the sulking and morose Zama will not visit the pulsing and vibrant new landscape around him, it will visit him.

Director Lucrecia Martel deftly makes the audience part of the story. The scenes she provides are rich and dazzling in a variety of ways; color, sound, wildlife, clothing, furnishings, evident historical research, insight into human nature, brilliant acting and more. Her portrayal is wonderfully balanced. Martel does not glorify the past, nor does she skewer it. Pristine and beautiful scenery of lakes, rivers and forests are offset by glimpses of the morgue with its cholera and plague victims, the cruel and routine punishments and torture implements of the time and whirling ceiling fans that remind you of what the tropics without air conditioning must feel like. Martel's sensitivity and depth of feeling is astounding. The film audience, for example, is not provided with subtitles of native languages. "We deserve to not understand what the natives are talking about," said Martel who was at this Toronto International Film Festival screening. "History taught around the world is mostly about the colonizers." In one scene there are three sisters who revolve around a central point in a room, and Martel wants it to seem like they are part of a miniature music box. Such wonderful little touches. The film is spiced with brilliant lines throughout. "Europe is best remembered by those who were never there," for instance, and "nighttime is safer for the blind." The film is based on a novel by Antonio Di Benedetto.

Despite the occasional bursts of violence, this film takes its time - lending emphasis to the slowness of the bureaucracy that traps Zama in his situation, and the boredom and frustration he suffers.

Is he complicit in his fate through not playing the game as expected, or are his ambitions simply fantasy in the first place? I'm not sure - but I got a similar feel here as I did from "Waiting for the Barbarians" - although that was more brutal and Mark Rylance the better man. In both cases, though, I was drawn in and really wanted to find out where it was headed as a story.

A film to immerse oneself in.

Period cinema often lacks authenticity, a sense of faux deprivation when such scenarios are encountered at best. Not here however, where the discomforts and hardships experienced by the colonial Spanish and their conquests leaves no room for misplaced romanticism. To extract the most from this piece I suspect you already need an interest of it, to have read the book upon which it is based (and enjoyed it), to be an avid follower of those times and of that era. It's elegantly performed, believable and honest but you can easily be distracted if you're engagement light begins to fade and dim, needing only to do so by a fraction to initiate the disconnection.

I read several good reviews about Zama, including some friends recommended me as an excellent movie, however, I only found imperfections, a boring movie for almost two hours and nothings happens, unlikely what looks like a great production it ends on an amount of resources without taking advantage. Too many mistakes, particularly with the spelling, why the natives do not have any accent? or even "the colonial" does not speak proper, poor conversations, bad timing, many mistakes from art department, fake and poor costume design, the director does not take advantage of the beautiful environment, even the sound is bad... just a few fake birds, in the beginning, the acting of Lola Dueñas was good, the rest of the cast does not shine at all, especially Juan Minujin so sad acting, when he speaks you cant understand what is he saying!

For a long time did not saw people leaving the cinema complaining... Such a shame Lucrecia Martel used a masterpiece novel from Antonio Di Benedetto, and made this meaningless and snob movie.

Martel is a master in narrating boredom, silent craving and hot weather. Much like "La ciénaga" this film is a delight of image and sound, filled with thoughtful details that accurately transport the viewer to a state of mind. It might bear down a little too much but it might just as well make you forget were you are for two hours. In the end it´s worth the pain.

By focusing on officer Zama the more ambitious social or historical commentary is made almost on its own, leaving small excerpts here and there of a much larger and complicated colonial system. The plot is the man and his attempt on staying by leaving, or being by disappearing. Not sure but I feel Martel´s work has more to do with the senses than the mind. Once you dive in it´s definitely a pleasure.