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MOVIE REVIEW Review: 'Embrace of the Serpent' is a mournful meditation on civilization Comment By Chris Honoré for Revels DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré for Revels Posted Mar. 24, 2016 at 12:01 AM By Chris Honoré for Revels Posted Mar. 24, 2016 at 12:01 AM 'Embrace of the Serpent' --> In various languages with English subtitles123minNot rated » Read more X 'Embrace of the Serpent' In various languages with English subtitles 123min Not rated » Social News Know first that “Embrace of the Serpent” was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language film from Colombia. Written and directed by Ciro Guerra and photographed in black-and-white by David Gallego, it is set in the heart of Colombia’s Amazon rain forest. Its images are luminous, the scale of its expansive beauty breathtaking. As well, it possesses a depth of melancholy that is unrelenting, for it is, above all, an allegory as well as a tribute to the indigenous people of the Amazon whose voices are now silent and whose cultures have vanished like so much mist on the swirling jungle rivers. The film opens in 1909 as a German ethnographer, Theo (this character is based on the diaries of real-life explorer Theodor Koch-Grunberg), portrayed by Jan Bijvoet, who is deathly ill, convinces a young shaman, Karamakate (Nilbio Torres), to take him up river in search of a plant, the yakruna, which is thought to have healing properties. Karamakate is at first reluctant, for inside he rages at the rubber barons who have decimated his tribe and the ecosystem of the forest. Theo convinces him that if he will act as their guide he will show him where his people, called the Cohiuano, are, insisting they still exist. Karamakate reluctantly agrees. And so, along with Theo’s river Sherpa, the three men begin their journey in a dugout canoe in search of the sacred plant. It is a trip that takes them into Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.” One of the most unsettling moments of the film occurs at a mission where a priest has taken in a group of orphan boys, their parents killed in the rubber wars. But, Theo finds that the father regards his charges as pagans and beats them remorselessly. Running parallel to the story of Theo is that of Evan (Brionne Davis), also based on the American botanist, Richard Evans Schultes, who, using Theo’s diary and sketches, is also in search of the elusive plant, interested in its medicinal properties. The time is 40 years later; yet the guide is once again a now-aged Karamakate who agrees to take Evan. Like Theo, they stop at the decaying mission, only now it’s inhabited by a cult that worships a madman who believes he is Jesus. Embedded in the film is one overriding question: What does it mean to be civilized? Can those who called the indigenous people “savages” or “pagans,” who were righteously religious, the carriers of truth, call themselves civilized? What followed in their wake amounted to the genocide of groups of people, who were decimated by disease and forced labor for the profit of the unconscionably rapacious rubber barons. But know as well that “Embrace of the Serpent” is not heavy-handed or overbearing. There is instead an inherent sadness to the film, for it is elegiac in its composition, the images startling, evocative, and often unexpected. It is unlike any film you will have seen before. Do not expect a story that relies on lengthy exposition; there is no coherent narrative arc. Rather it is as much a visual experience with almost a documentary feel that borders on the mythical and the surreal, framed by the emotions of grief and loss. By Chris Honoré for Revels DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré for Revels Posted Mar. 24, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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