Although not the favorite to take home the prize on the night (that distinction goes to Hungarian film ‘Son of Saul’), I firmly believe (as a Colombia-lover and film-lover) that Embrace of the Serpent deserves to bring home Colombia’s first Oscar, and here are 5 reasons why…<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1. It doesn’t fetishize or marginalize Amazonian indigenous cultures…<\/strong><\/p>\n Unlike Werner Herzog’s ‘Fitzcarraldo,’ which too often reduces indigenous people to the role of mute bystander, or John Boorman’s ‘The Emerald Forest,’ which fetishizes Amazonian tribes, and consigns them to the roles of either gentle, noble savage, or murderous barbarian, ‘Embrace of the Serpent’ treats indigenous people with a sensitivity and balance usually lacking from cinematic portrayals of the Amazon<\/strong>. Karamakate (the shaman-like main character, whom we see both as a young and old man) is a fascinating character, at once noble and mistrusting, wise and humorous. And, most importantly, he is the star of the film<\/strong>, not a supporting cast member to a tale of the ruin of a capricious European adventurer – the film doesn’t present the jungle as a place that white men go to lose themselves, but rather as a complex, multi-layered space, where distinct groups of people have lived and survived for thousands of years<\/strong>, as evidenced by the variety of languages employed by Guerra in the film. New Republic posed the question: “Is this the greatest film ever made about the Amazon?”<\/a> It might be too soon to say yes, but there has never been a film, certainly not an Oscar nominated one, that has done such a great job of capturing something like the real essence of indigenous Amazonian peoples and putting it on the screen<\/strong>. Possibly helped by the fact that…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Embrace](\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/embrace-of-the-serpent.jpg\")
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