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The Worst Film Ever

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Fresh and Exciting

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This movie is a special experience, taking us into the exotic Amazon jungles. When I'm watching, I'm not really sure whether I'm in Brazil, Argentina, Peru or Colombia. It's a little confusing but at times we do learn from the small details. Though, it doesn't matter too much. What strikes me is the way South America as a whole is a mixed pot of all the influences from other continents, particularly Europe... and how the native people are opposed to these changes. That for me is the heart of this film, this conflict between the native and the foreigner. There's sometimes a few clichés in this regard but the film does well to minimize this... that is the usual evil white man vs. the wise native. Nevertheless, this film is wise and deals with some big questions about man's greed, the exploitation of natural resources for dark means, corruption in nature and religion. I don't agree with everything it has to say, but whatever it did say was quite powerful and Embrace is an experience that is worth sacrificing your time for. There's not many films like it.

The dreamlike odyssey of this movie is important and tragic. It has revelation in its bones, not of profundity but of empathy. This movie is about more than the raping of entire cultures at the hands of colonialists and rubber barons, it's about the inescapable sadness in the human condition that results from an unfeeling universe. An entire culture torn asunder to be no more. One man, Karamakate, as its last shadow, barely able to remember even the most basic of his people's recipes, let alone the faces of those he loved. Doomed to be forgotten forever. It's not just the loss of homeland and trees but the loss of the spiritual side of nature and the planet around us. The reduction of things to "things."As a last hurrah, Karamakate saves one white man by showing him the limits of his own imagination -- a last attempt at preserving what once was, what can still be.Impeccable shot with black and white cinematography. Its purpose seems to be that the world has been blanked of color. Its meaning stripped down to its barest essentials.

I always become interested in any film that is nominated during awards season, and that it how I came to find this Colombian/Venezuelan/Argentinian film, and it was rated well, so I hoped for something good. Basically it tells two stories, thirty years apart, both featuring the character Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last surviving member of his tribe, and both times travelling on a journey with a scientist to find the rare yakruna, a sacred plant. In 1909, German ethnographer scientist Théodor 'Theo' von Martius (Jan Bijvoet) from Tübingen has resided in the Amazon for years, he is very sick, travelling with his notes and a westernised local he saved from slavery named Manduca (Yauenkü Migue). Young Karamakate (Nilbio Torres) prolongs Theo's life by blasting white powder called "the sun's semen" (possibly a hallucinogenic) up his nose, but is reluctant to become involved a westerner and refuses his money, Theo is searching for the yakruna plant as the only cure for his disease, and the three set off in a canoe to find it. Years later, in 1940, American botanist Evan (Brionne Davis) paddles up to the Old Karamakate (Antonio Bolívar Salvador), he is hoping to complete Theo's quest, Karamakate does reluctantly agree again and assist, but he believes his knowledge is fledgling. Evan has a book of Theo's final trek, as he did not survive the jungle, Karamakate only agrees to help him as Evan describes himself as someone devoted to plants, but he may in fact have alternative purpose to find the yakruna plant. Both expedition stories play side by side, in 1909 Theo was left to die, and the plant was found but destroyed after being being abused and cultivated, against local traditions, and in 1940 only one plant remains and old Karamakate prepares it as a hallucinogenic for Evan to undergo a super- conscious experience. Also starring Nicolás Cancino as Anizetto and Luigi Sciamanna as Priest Gaspar. Both stories playing together are interesting as the characters travel upriver on the same mission, the black-and-white colouring for the film works well, there are good themes of religion, language and culture, and the cinematography is fantastic, all together it is a most watchable foreign language adventure drama. Very good!

'EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT': Four Stars (Out of Five) The critically acclaimed Colombian historical drama flick; about the relationships between an Amazonian shaman (who's the last survivor of his people) and two different scientists (in the 1909 and 1940 Amazon). The film is based on the diaries of the two scientists, it depicts in the movie (Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evans Schultes). It was directed by acclaimed Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra, and it was written by Guerra and Jacques Toulemonde Vidal. The film has a 99% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar (at the 2016 Academy Awards). I enjoyed it as well.Karamakate (played by Nilbio Torres and Antonio Bolivar, at different ages) is the last surviving member of his people. He lives in the Amazon, and protects it from intruders. In 1909 he's greeted by a German scientist, named Theo (Jan Bijvoet), who's looking for a sacred plant called yakruna. Karamakate reluctantly helps him. 40-years later he's approached by an American scientist, named Evan (Brionne Davis), who's looking for the same thing.The film was beautifully shot in the Amazonia region of Columbia, and it's gloriously presented in black-and-white visuals. It's both visually stunning to watch, and bizarrely strange to experience. The movie has a really classic feel to it, and the subject matter is involving (and quite disturbing) at times. I didn't really care for all of the performances in it though; it was made on a budget of just $1.4 million, and sometimes that shows (especially with the acting). Still, it is a very fascinating (and extremely weird) movie!Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/lcZBQp0HBZg