Sayen

Sayen is a movie about a Chilean native tribe called the Mapuche living in balance with their world of mountains and forest. It's full of lovely scences but the native lands sit atop a large deposit of cobalt. If you've paid enough attention to modern events and are in the habit of self education then you might know that cobalt is a relatively rare mineral that is much in demand. It's a key material for electrni devices like computers, smart phones, etc. It's mainly used for manufacturing the batteries that our world's small devices run on.

As such mega corporations are willing to do about any corrupt thing to gain possession of cobalt lands. Sayen is about this kind of corruption. The movie is well acted and direct, no wasted effort, some basic dramatic action and violence. But mining cobalt has itself involved violence and death in real life. Most decent companies are moving away from cobalt and researching the more efficient use of lithium for batteries these days. It's a good direction since lithium is one of the most abundant minerals on Earth and obtainable in many places and relatively cheaper than cobalt.

I recommend watching Sayen if you like good movies, like a quick example of the cobalt situation or like learning to open your mind. It's a better movie than most of the trash Hollywood creates.

This film could have been truly excellent. It explores concepts that have the potential to truly broaden the mind through cinema. But lacks any sort of concerted effort to truly delve into the subject matter it portrays.

Sayen as a character is interesting, her internal moral conflict as to whether or not to solve her problems through violence/aggression versus political action/media exposure is an interesting struggle to watch but it's completely glossed over. It's mentioned once, maybe twice, and then ignored. Her fight for not only herself but for her people is something that also could have been explored but they fail this as well.

The antagonist, Antonio. This is where they truly dropped the ball. Arón Piper's performance is great, however the script they gave him to work with is abysmal. Antonio as a character had the potential to be riveting and engrossing. The film had the opportunity to truly explore his battle with addiction. His struggle with mental illness, and his strained relationship with his father. We, as the audience, could've watched him fight through his internal struggles and battle with his demons as he reckons with himself what must be done. But nope, none of that. He's just "bad rich guy mean to poor girl". And that's it. It's sad to see honestly as he was developed halfway and could've been great if they just didn't half do it the way they did. Somehow it's worse when characters could have been great but end up shallow, rather than when were terrible form start to finish. Sayen as a film sadly fall into the former.

Sayen, is a film that truly could've been something special, but falls flat with a rushed pace, shallow characters, and a plot with very little surprise.

Whether this was a deep view into the indigenous culture of South America, I cant say, but the film makes a first approach by showing many different types of character: the bravery and dignity of Sayen's grandmother (who steals the show), Sayen's bravery and integrity, even a sellout - in the company's guide, and a non-warrior who shows the way to fight as a journalist. The subject matter is especially relevant today, so the film gets points for that.

A shame that the film did not give more closure with the ending. We hope for a better resolution in the sequel, but unfortunately, that might be the point that the film veers from reality.

All in all the film is not as bad as the official reviews say. It will be interesting to see how it continues.

The film is a visual treat. I did not know Chile was so beautiful. The story has some of the usual tropes of the underdog fighting the system, but it's presented differently. The protagonist is a strong tribal woman; not once does the movie somehow contrive to get her to take off her clothes to give fan service. She stays in character throughout as an intense yet sensitive woman bent on gaining justice for herself and her people.

The cast is fairly small, but does the job well. For me (who has never been to South America or the Western Hemisphere), it was interesting to see the tribal celebrations and the very colourful people and culture.

The screenplay could be slightly more polished, or maybe it makes some assumptions about cultural knowledge. But it was still a good action movie with a different kind of protagonist.

If it were a regular Hollywood movie, I would give it something like 7.5 stars. But the visual beauty and exposure to a new culture and film industry adds a little more novelty to it for me.

I liked this movie. I was impressed by the use of the Mapuche language, and found the character of Sayen, who trained as a Mapuche warrior as a child, believable. I liked that she seemed like a person a mainstream person might meet in University who was returning to her people. Unlike some Marvel character, this character makes me curious about what is happening with native people in Patagonia. She was sympathetic, as was her grandmother. She showed a range of emotion not usually seen in a woman character, but appropriate for her situation. Namely fierce anger. I would love to see a sequel of Sayen's life in the jungle and her ongoing struggle against the corporate invasion of her peoples' land.