Embrace of the Serpent

For the things we don't see, or weren't around to see, 'Embrace of the Serpent' attempts to re-image a dark past in our history.

Karmakate is the last survivor of his tribe, living in the heart of the Colombian Amazon. At two separate points in time, he is asked by foreign scientists' Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evan Schultes -- both with different purposes -- on how to find a scared healing plant. The film borrows a lot of its content from their diaries from when they had commissioned Karmakate to help them in 1909 and 1940, respectively. He is conflicted as he has no ambition to help "the White man" because his tribe was wiped from the Earth by them, and he lives his days by himself.

The film doesn't beat around the bush. As it progresses, it becomes evident that the story is about the devastation of colonialism and what it had done to the land & its people. Everything from spreading Catholicism to Rubber Farming, more and more they see the land changing for the worse.

It was impressive to not only hear these actors speaking Spanish, but also being able to converse in the native tongue of the locals, including the several other languages that were used through out the film. Couple that with the beautiful cinematography, and you have yourself quite the masterpiece.

Fans of Miguel Gomes' 'Tabu' would likely enjoy this. Shot in black and white. Beautiful transitions and landscape shots. Winner of the Art Cinema Award at Cannes. Expect this film to go for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars.

"Embrace of the Serpent" (2015 release from Colombia; 125 min.) brings the story of two explorers who, 3 decades apart (1909 and 1940, respectively) explore the Amazon region, albeit with very different motives. They both end up enlisting the help of the same man, Karmakate, one of the few remaining shamans.

Couple of comments: first, it takes a while to fully understand and grasp what is really happening, and that the local is the same man, simply 30 years older than before. It eventually also becomes clear that this film calls out "the white man" for what he has done to the jungle and the indigenous peoples. At some point Theo (the first explorer) and his two travel mates come to a Mission, where a priest runs things. Later on, the effects of the 'rubber wars' become all too clear. Second, the movie is shot in gorgeous black and white. This is the second film in a row that I've seen in theaters that is in B&W, what are the chances? (the other film was "Creative Control"). Third, Belgian actor Jan Bijvoet gives a truly stunning performance as Theo. You will be blown away. "Embrace of the Serpent was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar this year. While it didn't win ("Son of Saul" did), it doesn't diminish anything of the intrinsic quality of this film. With that, I've now finally seen all 5 nominees in the Best Foreign Language Movie Oscar category, and I am amazed at the collective talent in those 5 movies.

"Embrace of the Serpent" opened last weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Sunday early evening screening was attend quite nicely, much better than I had expected. It confirms that there is a market for this type of top-notch quality foreign movie. Truly world cinema at its best. If you get a chance to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, do not miss it! "Embrace of the Serpent" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Interesting look at the lifestyle of the Amazon people in the vanishing jungle where a shaman deals with two diverse characters , being first Colombian film nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film . The amazing story of the relationship between Karamakate (Nilbio Torres -Young Karamakate-, Antonio Bolívar -Old Karamakate- and all the natives of the film are natural actors) and two scientists who seek a magic plant , Theo (Jan Bijvoet) and Evan (Brionne Davis) . As decades apart , an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his people , and two scientists who work together over the course of 40 years to search the Amazon for a sacred healing flower . It's based on two true stories, linked together by one remarkable man and , perhaps, the most famous, celebrated river in the world, the Amazon . And the man is Karamakate, the last shaman of his jungle tribe . We first meet him in 1940 , deep into his sixties as played by Antonio Bolivar, when he encounters a man foreign to his home, an American scientist Richard Evans Schultes (Brionne Davis) . The rain forest of the Amazon are disappearing at the rate of 5000 acres day . Four million Indians once lives there , nowadays 120.000 remain .

Embrace Of The Serpent is one such cinematic experience which brought a deserved Academy Award Nomination . Ecological thriller that has in highlighting the destruction of the South American rain woods by the rubbers ; being based upon a real story , on diaries by scientists Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evan Schultes , both of whom delve into the Amazonian rainforest in search of a rare plant with medicinal and hallucinatory qualities, with the assistance of a local shaman on opposite ends of his own life journey . An ecological adventure with mystical touches that was ahead of its time in denounce about forest destruction , including some disconcerting scenes , as the frames where a man is praised to be the Messiah is based on an actual event . Embrace of the Serpent attempts to frame the destruction of the rain forest's ecology and peoples as a slow-motion tragedy on scales both personal and cultural , but it is more intriguing in its ambitions, which frustrate it, than in it successes, which are limited . This exciting film contains thrills , emotion , adventure and marvelous scenes from deep rainy forest that generate a lot of surprises and illusion . This film has got some images "stuck in their head" including several sequences can stay in your brain for a long, long while .

Glamorous and lush cinematography by David Gallego who photographs wonderfully the Amazon jungle , obviously filmed under difficult conditions on location . Shot in black-and-white, which is at once visually distinctive but also rather flattening . Evocative musical score by Nascuy Linares and the music Evan plays on the gramophone is Haydn's "The Creation". This engrossing and enjoyable film with interesting screenplay by Ciro Guerra and Jacques Toulemonde Vidal was well directed by Ciro Guerra . He's a good professional filmmaking giving various Colombian successes such as Los Viajes Del Viento (2009) and La Sombra Del Caminante (2004) . Rating "Embrace of the Serpent" : Better than average . Wholesome watching .

Another Ciro Guerra's masterpiece. Fascinating movie. After "The wind Journeys" Guerra shows again his talent with an incredible history about the Amazonas jungle back in the early 1900s. The beauty and uniqueness of the scenes is mind blowing. The sound takes you deep inside the jungle. The story is a thriller that makes you live the most strange adventures that you could ever imagine in the jungle. It is based on two diaries written by a German and American travelers. All actors have an incredible command of the indigenous dialect. Additionally, the native indigenous actors seem to be truly professionals. Enjoyed every single minute. A must see.

For 350 years, Spain built a vast empire in South America based on the labor and exploitation of the Indian population, forcing them to accept Christianity while decimating their culture, religion, and even their language. In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, "rubber barons" rounded up all the Indians and forced them to tap rubber out of the trees in rainforest zones leading to slavery and human rights abuses. Winner of the top Director's Fortnight Award at Cannes and Colombia's submission to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category, Ciro Guerra's ("The Wind Journeys") Embrace of the Serpent (El abrazo de la serpiente) provides a powerful insight into the effects of colonialism on an indigenous population.

The film, in which nine different languages are spoken, follows two interconnected stories based on the travel journals of two Amazonian explorers thirty years apart, German scientist Theodor Koch-Grunberg (Jan Bijvoet, "Borgman") and American plant enthusiast Richard Evans Schultes (Brionne Davis, "Avenged"). Both men are seeking the Yakruna plant to discover its powerful ability to heal. The two explorers are accompanied by the Amazonian shaman Karamakate (Niblio Torres as a young man and Antonio Bolivar as the elder) not only to find the sacred plant for research purposes but to learn deeper truths about themselves and the nature of reality. Karamakate, the last surviving member of his tribe, guards the secrets of Yakruna, a last symbol of independence for his people.

Filmed in black and white by cinematographer David Gallego ("Cecilia"), it is the first film to be shot on location in the Amazon in thirty years and its gorgeous kaleidoscope of rivers and forests, and the blending of time creates a surreal, dreamlike atmosphere, fortified by native songs and chants. As the film begins, a young Karamakate, armed with a spear and dressed in native attire, stands menacingly as a boat approaches the shore containing the German scientist and his companion Manduca (Yauenku Migue), a native dressed in white man's clothing.

Manduca asks the shaman to cure the explorer who is very sick, but Karamakate, who is familiar with the destructive nature of the white man, refuses. When Theo tells him, however, that he has seen survivors of his people and will take him to them, the young shaman agrees as long as the white man follows his "prohibitions" about disturbing the natural flow of the jungle. The two scientists, Theo in 1909 and Evan in 1940, follow the same path and explore the same places drastically changed over the years. Karamakate, as he did with Theo, acts as Evan's guide and considers himself as a "chullachaqui," an empty shell of a human being, and must become a man once more in tune with nature.

Two scenes stand out. After a night of singing and dancing with a native group and demonstrating Western technology, Theodor becomes angry when a member of the group wants to keep his compass in exchange for goods. To rationalize his anger, he tells Karamakate that owning a compass would disturb their traditions of finding locations through the sun and stars, but the shaman tells him "You cannot forbid them to learn. Knowledge belongs to all men." The other scene is one of pure horror when a priest (Luigi Sciamanna, "Secreto de Confesion") at a Spanish mission is found brutally whipping his young students until Theodor intervenes.

Despite an element of religious madness that feels out of sync with the tone of the film, Embrace of the Serpent soars when its focus is on spiritual awareness. The shaman tells both scientists the need to unburden themselves of their material possessions and explore the mystery of consciousness alone without their physical and psychological baggage. They cannot be cured of their illness, he tells them, because they have forgotten how to dream. After Evan ingests a native plant following a heated exchange with Karamakate, a montage of brilliant, swirling colors pushes the boundary of what we think is real and allows us to remember how to dream.