discussion 10 embrace of the serpent el abrazo de la serpiente

1. In what ways does the shamanKaramakate change from his youth to old age? How does Embrace of the Serpent portray those changes? What do these changes symbolize with regard to the state of indigenous peoples and cultures of the Amazon?

1. Embrace of the Serpentis filmed almost entirely in black and white. When and why does the film switch to color? In your opinion, is this sudden use of color effective? If so, why? If not, why not?

1. A classic Western literary and cinematic trope is the story of the European explorer who is driven mad by living “in the jungle”. To what extent doesEmbrace of the Serpent follow this classic “jungle storyline? To what extent does the film present a different version of the impact that “the jungle” has on human beings?

and short peer review on this one:

1.

Younger Karamakate wasn’t as open to the white man as he was when he got older even though in both stages of his life, he wasn’t very fond of them, or how they treated his people. But as he got older, he became wiser on the things that he had to do in order to fulfill his destiny, per say. As he gets older though he believes he has become a chaculiloqu, and it shows that he has lost his memory. But as he follows the direction that he went on during his first expedition, his memories slowly come back.

In the scene when Evan asked what the drawings on the rock meant Karamakate was unable to tell him, and tells him that he was forgotten Another scene where his memory is challenged is when Evan hears him crying and as he was crying you can hear him saying how could he forget how to make the sacred food of the gods.

It shows how they were to people coming to take over their land. It also shows how sacred and how much they care for their land and their natural resources.

2.

It switches at the end when Karamakate is portrayed in a psychedelic type scene where he’s floating in the galaxy and his eyes turn into a glaring light which then explodes out of his mouth. It was a very strange scene; I wasn’t really sure how to interpret what was occurring. But it gave me the vibe that the film wanted to portray a different type of vibe, something more unreal, possibly tying into the fantasy of the yakruna being some type of fantasy drug that cures diseases and is extremely sacred.

I thought it was because it brought in a different feel to the film, throughout the film you aren’t able to grasp this fantasy portrayal of the yakruna being such a life saving drug or the feel of the dreams that were seen when one had drank the caapri. I thought this use of color brought a more psychedelic side to the film out so that the viewers could get a feel to this slight fantasy that was being portrayed.

3.

I thought Embrace of the Serpent did a great job at portraying how one would live in the jungle. The use of nature and little to no outside items that man would be used to living in a modern world really helped bring life to the movie. You could see how this was portrayed especially when Theo met Karamakate , you could tell how confused Karamakate was to why Theo was carrying all this extra luggage with him. He made a point that he didn’t need any of the things that he had, and that he would be fine with nothing. In the scene when Karamakate is with Evan and he makes him get rid of this boxes, you can see how frustrated Evan was with having to toss his things, but you can also see how after doing so Evan was able to more connect with his surroundings even though he kept the music box. I thought the music box was a symbol for sanity, at least for Evan it was something that reminded him of the world outside of the jungle, a world he had come from. But to Karamakate this was something completely different, he’d never seen something like that. But he embraced it and it gave him a different perspective to the things that are outside of the jungle.

Another part of the film that really portrayed this is when the older version of Karamakate visits the orphanage where he’d gone when he was younger. You can see how insane the people are portrayed, following a man who believes he is the son of God. It just goes to show how mad the indigenous people became when the white man took over and corrupted their beliefs.

It shows how an outsider would have to adapt to living in the jungle, especially when they are not a native. In the film the scene when Manduca had pulled out the gun and Karamakate saw it, I remember when he said that “All whites bring is destruction to the jungle” this really stood out to me because it portrayed how the natives would see the white man. As one who came to corrupt their sacred land and kill those who belonged instead of cherishing what it had to offer.