SLIFF 2015 Review – EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT

We often hear people remark about how they’ve got a tune or melody “stuck in their head”. The same thing could be said for certain…magical…memorable films. An image or a sequence can stay in your brain for a long, long while. EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT is one such cinematic experience. It’s based on a true story. Oh wait, 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), who is in search of the healing plant, the yakruna. He had read about it in the diary of another scientist, Germany’s Theodor Koch-Grunberg. The film abruptly shifts back in time, to 1909 as the much younger medicine man (Nilbio Torres) is startled by the sight of the ailing German (Jan Bijvoet) lying in a canoe steered by his guide/companion Manduca (Yauenku Migue). He too is in search of the plant, believing that it will restore his health. The shaman joins them as they paddle up the river, encountering different tribes and fighting the elements. They stumble upon a disturbed priest protecting the school/orphanage he has started for the native boys. In the later time line the older shaman and the American discover how that incident inspired a strange cult.

These adventures unfold in a dream-like, leisurely pace in this epic journey directed and co-written by Ciro Guerra. He captures the region’s tranquil beauty and unexpected tragedy and horror. The subtle score that adds to the mystery is supplied by Nascuy Linares. But the film’s dazzling beauty is in its unusual look. We generally think of the Amazon jungle in shades of vibrant greens and yellows. Here cinematographer David Galleo has shot the film in shimmering, near silver black and white, giving the story an alien, unearthly quality, invoking the photos of explorers along with fine illustrations and woodcuts. This helps make the single brief color filled psychedelic sequence truly pop. It’s great, but it’s those shades of grey that truly mesmerize. EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT is a lyrical ode to an exotic land, and a feast for the cinema senses.

EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT screens at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas on Saturday, November 7 at 6:30 PM and Monday, November 9 at 9:15 PM as part of the 24th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival. Purchase Tickets here and here