Synopsis: The 8 year travels across America of a 16th century Spanish conquistador after being shipwrecked
Director: Nicholas Echevarria
Actors: Juan Diego
Date: 1993
How viewed: bought dodgy copy on ebay from Mexico...
Rating: 4/5
David Meyer says:
For all the strangeness, infinite spells without a word of dialogue, and explicit violence, there's also plenty of cool western action, plus landscapes out of nightmares.. .. this may prove one of the enduring filmic experiences of your life.
I say:
The film is based on the true story of Cabeza de Vaca, who was part of a Spanish expedition of 600 men shipwrecked on the coast of Florida in 1528, who travelled across America, encountering various native tribes, until he and the 3 other survivors were found by another Spanish expedition in Texas 8 years later (but I only found that out later - see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Álvar_Núñez_Cabeza_de_Vaca). Actually the film probably works better if you don't know the story. It provides you with very few clues, and thus echoes his experience: you don't know where you are, or where you're going, or what will happen next, or whether the next band of natives you encounter will be friendly or not, or what they are talking about. Consequently it's a real journey into the unknown and is pretty scary at times. It reminded me somewhat of Gulliver's Travels - at times he was enslaved, at times treated like e messiah - and at times it was like a documentary of the rituals of undiscovered Amazonian tribes. However, for all it's good points, there was a lot of emotional weeping and wailing, and over-emphasis on the allegory for the imposition of Christianity on natives. Enjoyed it though, and learning about Cabeza.
No comments:
Post a Comment