Still from Embrace of the Serpent. Colombian film Embrace of the Serpent is an otherworldly journey into the Amazon jungle, taking viewers on an elegiac and hallucinatory voyage that flows alongside other great river tales, from the books of Mark Twain and Joseph Conrad, to films like Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo and Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.
Rendered in vivid black and white, much like the silver and obsidian tones of Edward S. Curtis' photographs of 1800s native Americans, director Ciro Guerra's rapturously-shot, narrative film is a rumination on cultural erasure, memory, and the lingering aftermath of colonialism. Shot on-site in the jungles of Colombia, with a cast and crew almost entirely composed of indigenous people, it's the first Colombian film that has been nominated for an Academy Award.
Embrace of the Serpent interweaves two timelines separated by 40 years: one tracing an expedition of early 20th century German ethnologist Theodor Koch-Gr nberg (played by Jan Bijvoet), while another follows American biologist Richard Evans Schultes (played by Los Angeles actor, Brionne Davis), the so-called father of ethnobotany, who is retreading his predecessor's jungle trek. The scientists are led by Karamakate, a lonesome shaman and last remaining member of his tribe, who helps them search for a sacred medicinal plant used by indigenous people of the Amazon. The sagely spirit guide is played by two indigenous actors, Nilbio Torres, as the younger Karamakate, and Antonio Bol var Salvador, who plays the shaman in his older years. The explorers traverse a river on a thin canoe, encountering residents of the rainforest and experiencing the encroaching effects of rubber plantations and missionaries.
The film is loosely based on the real writings of Koch-Gr nberg and the pharmacological research of Schultes -- whose 1979 book The Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers inspired counterculture artists and writers to explore the spiritual qualities of shamanistic plants. The Amazon is the big unknown for us, Guerra says, so I found the diaries of the explorers who were the first ones to go into the Amazon in the 20th century. It was still uncharted area, and I couldn't believe that this story had never been told before. It was so fascinating that the story was exciting and heartbreaking, riveting, and it was an opportunity to bring the audience into a place both physical but also spiritual and mental.
While the film has subtle psychedelia touchstones of filmmakers like Alejandro Jodorowsky and Stanley Kubrick, Guerra says that the film is a commemoration to the original explorers whose works inspired future generations, and a reflection of indigenous cultures perched on the precipice of colonization.
Artbound recently sat down with Guerra and discussed the challenges of filming in the Amazon, how he cast the local actors and crew, and how the jungle represents the last great unknown.
Ciro Guerra shooting a scene for Embrace of the Serpent.
What was your relationship to the Amazon while growing up in Colombia ?
It was the big unknown, it was half of our country. You knew that there were indigenous communities but you didnt know who they were and how they viewed the world. We had a very basic conception of them. It was a very conflicted time in Colombia. We had the sense that it was a dangerous place. There were illegal groups. Both guerrilla and drug trafficking groups. People were afraid of it and society had turned its back on it completely. It is half of your country but you are completely disconnected from it. That was one of the main motivations, to build bridges between two very different worlds.
You've been making films since you were in your early 20s, but now your film is the first Colombian film ever nominated for an Oscar. Where were you when you heard the news?
We were invited by Caracol Televisi n, the main backer of the film and TV channel in Colombia, and they invited me the crew, and the producers of the new film to have breakfast and watch the announcement. When it came, it was a big surprise, we werent expecting it. We were not considered a favorite, but when it came it was a big surprise and joy. We were screaming and jumping around, and hugging each other. We got a call from the president congratulating us. It was a great moment for Colombian cinema.
Still from Embrace of the Serpent.
What drew you to the stories of these two scientists?
Making a film in the Amazon was a lifelong dream of mine. The Amazon is the big unknown for us, so I found the diaries of the explorers who were the first ones to go into the Amazon in the 20th century. It was still uncharted area, and I couldn't believe that this story had never been told before. It was so fascinating that the story was exciting and heartbreaking, riveting, and it was an opportunity to bring the audience into a place both physical but also spiritual and mental. Once we discovered the story, we couldn't stop thinking about it and we had to do it.
Throughout history there have been river stories, from the River Styx in Dante Alighieris Divine Comedy to Apocalypse Now. Why do you think people are so interested in stories about rivers?
Rivers are an important part of human history. Every major civilization and every major city developed next to a river and they have played such an important part in the way that we have evolved as a species.
For the Amazonian people, they see the river as a gift -- a gift of life. If the rivers are running it is because life is existing. If the rivers dry out it is the biggest tragedy imaginable, or when rivers are poisoned for example. Many cultures see rivers as metaphors for existence or the passing of time. The perpetual motion is a reflection of the way our minds are al
