Embrace of the Serpent (or) El abrazo de la serpiente (Spanish, 2015)

The movie is more of a character study – the characters being the explorers, the shaman and Nature itself. The director doesn’t take sides in the argument between Nature and Science. There are two parallel narratives going on – two different times. The travelers cross the same places during both the times. The two narratives blend seamlessly with a touch of magical realism.

Karamatake (Played by Nilbio Torres in ’09 & Antonio Bolivar in the ‘40s), the guide, understands the explorers to some extent and vice versa. He is in an unspeakable loss at what colonialism has done to their simple lives. How lives have been ravaged under the pretext of Rubber plantations, religion, making the lives of the tribes better and the quest for knowledge. The entire story by Ciro Guerrra and Jacques Toulemonde is a dialog between these two sides – Knowledge vs Cost of knowledge, Colonialism vs Primitive tribes, Globalization vs Ways of nature. These concerns are brilliantly brought out throughout the film.

The black and white cinematography by David Gallego is evocative and dreamy in the right mixture. He sets the tone of magic realism right from the start – The first meeting between the explorers and the Shaman in two different times. Scenes of Amazon’s greenery intentionally shot in crisp black and white gives a feeling of docufiction. There are scenes of exceptional poetic beauty, that works right at the subconscious – Karamatake setting the Yakruna tree on fire, Theodor and Karamatake on a kayak on the Amazon as it rains – these brilliant imagery are not easy to forget.

The performances in the movie are so real, that give the feeling of this being a documentary. The cinematography adds to this effect. The actors seem to be handpicked from the local populace. The casting is impeccable. Each face tells a story by mere presence.

The movie boasts of an exceptional sound design that takes you right into the middle of the Amazon River and the dense forests surrounding it.

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