Embrace of the Serpent-2015

Director Ciro Guerra

Starring Nilbio Torres, Antonio Bolivar

Scott’s Review #524

Reviewed November 23, 2016

Grade: B+

Embrace of the Serpent (2015) is a cerebral experience of complex storytelling, weaving two parallel stories set forty years apart.

It is an immensely creative film crafting a black-and-white cinematic expressionism into its lurid walls.

Admittedly I found the stories tough to follow at times, and the film contains an impressionistic quality, but I knew I was watching something creative and brave.

That is worthy of a hefty thumbs up.

The setting is the Amazon jungle, along the vast Amazon River, deep in the heart of South America. The periods are 1909 and 1940, and both feature an Amazonian shaman who is the very last of his people and very resentful of white men.

In 1909, he traveled with a dying German scientist and in 1940, an American.

Both are looking for a sacred healing plant, which contains magical powers.

The parallel stories both feature a Spanish Catholic Mission by the side of an Amazon tributary.

In 1909, the leading priest was sadistic and abusive towards the young boys in his charge. Years later, the young boys are now hardened and grizzled. Both stories also feature the revelation of the plant, though in different ways and with vastly different outcomes.

The best part, much better than the storyline, is the use of black-and-white visuals. This gives the film a mysterious, old-world vibe that makes it feel like a film made in the 1940s, if not earlier.

In this way, it makes Embrace of the Serpent a visual spectacle, especially as countless scenes occur along the Amazon- we see the characters float, via canoe, and are treated to the beauty of the water and the surrounding luscious mountains.

It appears other-worldly, a part of the remote continent that few see or appreciate.

This is my favorite aspect of the film.

The stories are complex, sometimes not making complete sense, and I found myself a bit confused throughout, but this may have been due to the film’s clear art film persona, leading the film to be open to interpretation.

Both white men have different experiences with the sought-after plant.

I was left with some questions even having read the synopsis. One of the men has a dreamy, hallucinating experience with the magical plant, but what happens after?

The shaman is an interesting character as we see him as a young man and an old man, living as a lonely, resentful man.

Embrace of the Serpent (2015) is a perplexing, interpretative film, containing a magical quality and, if the story is muddy, one can whisk away to a fantastic experience just watching and enjoying the cinematic treats offered.

Oscar Nominations: Best Foreign Language Film

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best International Film