The Settlers

This revisionist western from Chile is a bleak and alarming tale which is based on the very real racism of colonialism, which targeted the indigenous people of that area circa 1900. The story is pretty simple and has a land baron send three men to clear the way for him, an ex-Army Brit, an American mercenary and a Mestizo, who is roped in somewhat uneasily due to his shooting skills. There are a minimal number of set-pieces which are based around the over-riding scenario of a genocide of a people whose misfortune was to live in a place landmarked for sheep.

It's mostly an ugly and brutal film, with a particularly depressing encounter where a group of natives are murdered and a woman raped. But the point is to show the horrors of colonialism in this land and what crimes were committed in its name. The story latterly also looks at how the authorities, under the guise of good intentions, buried the grim truth and promoted an idealistic myth. All-in-all, a pretty interesting and disquieting film, which also benefits from some great cinematography of some stunning Patagonian vistas.

The Settlers is an aesthetically gorgeous looking movie with beautiful camerawork, colorful production, and interesting themes about colonialism and the brutality between people. Unfortunately, despite the good intentions of what the filmmaker is seeking, the movie doesn't offer anything new with it's themes and struggles with a lacking narrative.

The production and colorful aspects help set the tone and environment and the soundtrack and sound designs are good. The narrative tries to bring some interesting territories but the underdeveloped characters and cartoonish violence and style causes the movie to feel quite off. The performances are a mix of some pretty good and some pretty bad. The performances from the Chilean actors were pretty good but the performances from the English characters are pretty poor with some being a bit laughable.

The direction is solid. There have been movies that have explored the issues of colonialism but unfortunately The Settlers didn't really offer anything special or new to the table. I was quite disappointing to say.

The film is not bad, but the poverty and suffering of a people and natives are shown in a very gentle way and everything seems poetic, without any particular fervor. I gave 7, because of the other things, especially because of photography, but all together it is less than 7. Why? Mostly because of American-English cast. They are more for a TV show than for the big screen of the cinema. Given that this is Galvez's debut, it must be noted that he really committed to being as faithful as possible to the depiction of his country's history, not too aggressive, but still quite poetically mild. In any case, the cruel and murderous attitude of the colonists towards the natives was shown.

Watching The Settlers is a grueling, almost physical challenge. Some of the scenes are so disturbing, and presented with such unflinching realism, that it is impossible not to look away at times.

The presentation of the horror of the genocide in Chile, and the appalling treatment of the indigenous people, at the turn of the last century is depicted in a way that is moving in a all of the ways that Killing of the Flower Amon wanted to be (and simply wasn't).

All of the performances are fantastic, especially the Indian natives, whose traumatized and quiet demeanors seems to drive home the atrocities being inflicted on them.

The Horror!

I did not know anything about this parrt of Chile history. This movie begins like a western, with a scheme rather close to TOM HORN, where it is impossible to say who is the good character and who is the villain. This amazing film is not destined to wide audiences, as you can guess, and it is quite painful, depressing, disturbing, but so close to actual facts. I really loved this picture, a so amazing, lesson of history. It definitely deserved to be told. It is rough, gritty, and divided in two parts actually. That's exactly the kind of film that I search for from Latin America or Us or European indie film industries.