More from the movie corner of Graziella: The Embrace of the Serpent
This week’s film is one of those rare gems whose refracted light can be harsh and yet rewarding to the eyes and mind. Made in 2015 by the Colombian Ciro Guerra, The Embrace of the Serpent (El abrazo de la serpiente) takes inspiration from the diaries of two actual historical figures who explored, some thirty years apart from one another, the haunting Amazonian jungle. Brilliantly, the film creates the character of an indigenous shaman, Karamakate, who runs into both men and guides them down a majestic river gorgeously filmed in black and white. While fragments of colonial horror alternate with breathtaking visual meditation on nature’s immanent divinity, the protagonists search for… we won’t tell; you find out through the images and sound of this amazing film, which, incidentally, is dedicated to lost Amazonian cultures.
Watch The Embrace of the Serpent on Kanopy here.
