Embrace of the Serpent

Writer/Director Ciro Guerra has created a haunting story of exploration in the Amazonian jungle with his film Embrace of the Serpent.

An Amazonian shaman named Karamakate (Nilbio Torres) who is the last of his people, takes a sick German explorer (Jan Bijvoet) and his aid (Yauenkü Migue) on a quest for a mystical herb that may cure him and, 40 years later, when his mind is feeble    (played by Antonia Bolivar), takes another German explorer (Brionne Davis) on a quest to find the last tree, bearing that same herb.

 

What this film excels at is in giving an accurate and poignant depiction of how Western Man, with his enterprise and religion, has gone about destroying the jungle and its people, the consequences of which affect the entire planet.

Cinematographer David Gallego and Production Designer Angélica Perea have done a fabulous job in giving the feel for both the early 20^th Century and mid-20^th Century.

I give Embrace of the Serpent a 4.4 out of 5.