At once blistering and poetic, the ravages of colonialism cast a dark shadow over the South American landscape in ‘Embrace of the Serpent’, the Oscar-nominated feature by Ciro Guerra. Spanning two periods half a century apart and set in the heart of the Amazon Basin, ‘Embrace of the Serpent’ follows two explorers’ attempts to locate a plant with near-mythical recuperative qualities. But as their search takes them deeper into the wilderness, it is their minds and bodies that come under threat.
Ciro Guerra’s film recalls Werner Herzog’s Amazonian masterpieces and echoes the more insane and trippy moments of ‘Apocalypse Now’, yet remains a singular, epic vision.
