The story of the relationship between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his people, and two scientists who work together over the course of 40 years to search the Amazon for a sacred healing plant.
Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evans Schultes were scientists and explorers, who ventured out into the Amazon to learn about its esoteric powers. Both recorded the horrors, magic, and eccentricity of the jungle and its inhabitants in their diaries. Based on those diaries, Ciro Guerra’s “Embrace of the Serpent,” Academy Award-nominee for Best Foreign Language Film (marking Colombia’s first Oscar nomination), is a psychedelic journey into the heart of darkness, a deeply disturbing look at human nature/evolution and thirst for power, seen through a hallucinatory Amazonian prism. It condemns humanity, and yet ends on a transcendentally buoyant note – there may be hope for us yet.
Karamakate (Nilbio Torres), a.k.a. “world traveler,” lives deep in the jungle, having utterly secluded himself from civilization. One day, he reluctantly agrees to help a dying Theodore (Jan Bijvoet) and his friend/servant Manduca find the mystical Yakruna plant, which may heal Theo, and lead Karamakate to his Cohiuano tribe… or whatever remains of it. They embark on a long and arduous journey, Theodore kept alive by Karamakate blowing a cocaine-like powder up the scientist’s nostrils. On the way, they encounter many tribes, ravaged in one way or the other by the Rubber War, and the “white man”’s wrath.
The shaman dreams of a jaguar who declares him the Protector of Theodore. Ironically – and symbolically – it’s the “white man” that holds the key to Amazon’s survival. When they do discover Yakruna, it’s been harvested for all the wrong reasons, and Kalamakate would rather burn it all down to ashes than let its holiness be desecrated. “You bring hell and death to Earth,” he proclaims bitterly, as flames engulf him.
The second storyline takes place many years later: Evan (Brionne Davis) follows Theodore’s footsteps by reading his diaries, looking for the same magical plant. He enlists an older Karamakate (Antonio Bolivar) to assist him, initially offering him $3 for his services.
The older Karamakate is sadder, more reflective, surrendered to his fate. He weeps bitterly for his people, for his own identity, deep in the murky depths of the Amazonian night. “My memories are gone,” he states. “Now I’m empty… What have I become?” He’s the embodiment of all the indigenous peoples, lost to modern civilization’s depravity.
Eventually, the shaman convinces Evan to get rid of his possessions and embrace Caapi – the Jungle spirit that prevails throughout both plots – at the Workshop of the Gods, a mountain overlooking the endless Amazon. It’s the last Yakruna in the world, and it’s Caapi’s “gift to the white man” – again, salvation rests upon the devil’s shoulders.
“Embrace of the Serpent”’s authenticity is palpable, and its languid rhythm is key to that verisimilitude. Despite the deliberate pace, the film is never less than entertaining, precisely because it allows the viewer to marvel at the beauty and horror of the jungle and its stories. The effect is psychedelic; the filmmakers wisely let the jungle speak for itself, with next-to-no music, its resonating voices that much more entrancing. The performances are so lived-in, they defy the term “acting” – it feels like we’re there, with them by that fire, taking a sip of some ethereal substance.
My initial reservations about the filmmakers’ choice to film in black and white in such a gorgeous location proved unwarranted, as the stark contrast emphasizes every detail on screen: every wrinkle of old Karamakate’s wise face, every hieroglyphic on an ancient wall, every ripple in the serpentine Amazon, coiling its way through the jungle – which itself almost gains a fabric-like, suffocating texture when reduced to two opposing colors. It’s all depicted vividly by David Gallego’s stunning camerawork. Several shots of men surrounded by butterflies are standouts in this “you are there” cinematic experience.
“Embrace of the Serpent” defies convention: events mirror each other, things occur unexpectedly, there are prolonged moments of reflection, followed by abrupt violence, and it ends on an unexpected – yet wholly credible – note. The “Rubber War” is a never-ending cycle, which in itself represents our thirst for resources and power, at the expense of knowledge and wisdom that took thousands of years to evolve.
Guerra carefully avoids sentimentality, and is never as manipulatively brutal as, say, Cary Joji Fukunaga’s “Beasts of No Nation.” “Serpent” has moments of levity that come as welcome relief to the abhorrent imagery, such as when Karamakate laughs heartily at Theo’s sappy love letters to his Dear Love in Germany. “I enjoy expressing affection,” Theo says defensively. “Before or after you cry?” Karamakate asks, before collapsing into a heap of giggles.
That said, the powerful moments are the ones that will stick in your memory for days after watching “Serpent”. A sequence, which starts with Theodore singing joyfully, and ends with a tense compass exchange negotiation, perfectly illustrates cultural differences and how conflict may arise from our attachment to possessions.
Other, similarly powerful and heart-wrenching set pieces, include a one-armed slave, tortured and begging for death; and a priest, who hates “Pagan languages” and enslaves children, whipping them into servitude, whipping everything that shapes them as a culture – as humans – out of them. Also worth mentioning is the cult-like “Eden,” led by a Jesus-like (crown of thorns and everything) self-proclaimed messiah, who declares, “The only thing sacred in this jungle is me!” His grisly demise I’ll let you discover – but it’s very apt – THE ultimate ego trip.
There are a few small missteps, here and there. Theodore’s story is more developed than Evan’s, and yet Evan’s ends more coherently. An off-kilter, unnecessary sequence of a jaguar facing off against a snake is pretentious and jarringly shot, as if it were done so in two separate locations and then clumsily stitched together. The film’s pace does slow to a crawl intermittently – at least ten minutes could have easily been chopped.
The flaws are minor and easy to overlook in this film. Guerra’s jungle trip is as accessible as Fernando Meirelles’ “City of God,” as balls-out nuts and authentic as Werner Herzog’s “Fitzcarraldo,” and as inventive and hallucinatory as Ben Wheatley’s “A Field in England.” What an amalgamation! And yet, in the capable hands of the talented filmmaking team, “Embrace of the Serpent” joins the league of those films that both condemn and embrace humanity – and do so with a healthy dose of Yakruna.
Opens at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas & Plano March 11th
