MOVIES
BY RICK LEVIN
HEARTS OF DARKNESS
Colonial visions of sickness and healing in Ciro
Guerra’s stunning Embrace of the Serpent
S
hot in lavish black-and-white, Embrace of the
Serpent drops you immediately into the humid
nightmare of colonial devastation. A lone
shaman, Karamakate (Nilbio Torres), squats
silently on the banks of the Amazon River in the
Colombian jungle. A canoe approaches, carrying a
Colombian guide, Manduca (Yauenkü Miguee), and Theo
(Jan Bijvoet), a German anthropologist dying of an
unspecified disease.
The year is 1911. The Colombian countryside and its
inhabitants have been ravaged by the international rubber
trade. Karamakate is the last remaining member of his
tribe. Manduca, who the shaman considers a caboclo — a
derogatory term for natives who work for invading white
men — begs Karamakate to heal Theo with yakruna, a
hallucinogenic vine that grows, ironically enough, near the
rubber tree.
Karamakate reluctantly agrees, commencing a journey
that is not only a physical trek up the Amazon but a
spiritual odyssey as well, investigating, with unwavering
humanity, the complex consequences of colonialism.
Directed by Colombian-born Ciro Guerra, Embrace of
the Serpent borrows heavily from past works on
colonialism, most notably Werner Herzog’s feverish film
Fitzcarraldo and especially Joseph Conrad’s Heart of
Darkness, where the end game of conquest is chillingly
expressed in the dying breath of the fictional monster
Colonel Kurtz: “The horror, the horror.”
What makes this film so extraordinary is that — unlike
Conrad’s complicit tales of colonial madness, where the
MARCH 25 TO MARCH 31
43 W. BROADWAY v (541) 686-2458
WWW.BROADWAYMETRO.COM
THE BRONZE
9:40
KNIGHT OF CUPS
11:45a 2:20 4:55 7:30 10:05
EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (EL ABRAZO DE LA SERPIENTE)
11:55a 2:00 4:45 7:30 10:15
Michael Moore’s WHERE TO INVADE NEXT
12:45 3:20 6:00
MUSTANG
11:40a 2:40 5:00 7:20
SPOTLIGHT
8:40
COMING SOON
EYE IN THE SKY
CITY OF GOLD
KRISHA
ELVIS & NIXON
MILES AHEAD
THE LOBSTER
ADULTS
$8 NO TALKING OR TEXTING DURING THE FILMS
STUDENTS (with ID)
$7 ARRIVE EARLY FOR BEST SEATING
SENIORS (62+)
$5 ENJOY OUR SELECTION OF GOURMET LOCAL
CHILDREN (6-12)
$5 SNACKS, WINE, BEER AND CIDER
MATINEE (before 5 pm) $5 BUY TICKETS IN ADVANCE, ONLINE OR IN PERSON
IMAX: BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
[CC,DV] (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.1030 PM
IMAX: BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 3D
[CC,DV (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.1200 PM 330 PM 700 PM
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
[CC,DV] (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(1100 300) 430 630 800 1000 1130
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 3D
[CC,DV] (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(1000
1130 130 230) 400 500 600 730 830 930 1100 1200
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 [CC,DV] (PG-13)
Fri. - Sat.(1140 210) 440 710 935
indigenous inhabitants remain cloaked in racist
incomprehension — this film humanizes everyone
involved, giving a full, three-dimensional portrait not only
of the whites but of the natives as well, whose perspective
of a world being drained of its dreams fuels the narrative.
Karamakate, ever suspicious of the colonialists, nonetheless
realizes that, unless he can help them heal (in the
profoundest sense of the word), we are all doomed.
At the heart of the movie is the native concept of the
chullachaqui — a hollow copy of a human who roams the
Amazon as a trickster. As the film jumps back and forth in
time, we meet the aged Karamakate (Antonio Bolívar
Salvador), who fears he himself has become a chullachaqui.
Robbed of his dreams and his memories, Karamakate
attempts to help an American anthropologist, Evan
(Brionne Davis), find the sacred yakruna plant.
In this way, the message of the film is complicated, and
made universal. Whatever the causes and effects of
colonialism, the healing must be across the board. The
time of condemnation and hand-wringing is over,
Karamakate comes to understand; to wage war against the
whites is to lose every time. Instead, as the old shaman
seeks to recapture his own sense of being, he realizes the
inner ignition of the dream must be everyone’s journey,
including those well-intentioned anthropologists with their
burdensome luggage (both figurative and literal) and the
fancy stories they will bring home.
Yes, Kurtz’s “horror” is on full display in Embrace of
the Serpent, including an almost unbearable passage of
torture and cannibalism at a Christian mission deep in the
Colombian jungle. But the answer to that horror is not, as
Kurtz apocalyptically suggested, to “exterminate the
brutes.” Instead, this film locates the sickness as something
inside us all, and provides an antidote that is no less
revolutionary for being utterly timeless: Stop being a
chullachaqui, and reawaken the dream. (Broadway Metro)
EMGE
WHYTE SERVICE
&
certified
public
accountants
eugene d. emge
pam Whyte
Hilary anthony
EXCELLENCE IN
tax & accounting professionals
Support Eugene Opera, Symphony, & Ballet!
25O5 W. 11th Ave • Eugene, OR 974O2 • 485-21OO
THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT [CC,DV] (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(1215 310) 645 945
TIX
$6
MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN [CC,DV] (PG)
Fri. - Sat.(1120 200) 450 735 1020
$2 $2 matinee
$1 off
Sun Tues $2 stud/SEN
*NEW* ALL AGES
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE [CC,DV] (PG-13)
Fri. - Sat.(1125 205) 445 720 1010
THE YOUNG MESSIAH [CC,DV] (PG-13) Fri. - Sat.(1210 PM)
LONDON HAS FALLEN [CC,DV] (R)
Fri. - Sat.(315 PM) 620 PM 940 PM
WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT [CC,DV] (R) Fri. - Sat.(1150 AM)
ZOOTOPIA [CC,DV] (PG)
ZOOTOPIA 3D [CC,DV] (PG) ★
Fri. - Sat.(1145 225) 505 745 1025
THE WITCH [CC] (R)
DEADPOOL [CC,DV] (R)
FRI MAR 25TH - THUR MAR 31ST
Fri. - Sat.(1115 155) 435 715 955
Fri. - Sat.(1205 PM)
Fri. - Sat.(1135 215) 455 740 1035
THE REVENANT [CC,DV] (R)
Fri. - Sat.(1105 245) 615 1015
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
[CC,DV] (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(1200 PM) 1030 PM
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 3D
[CC,DV] (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(330 PM) 700 PM
THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT [CC,DV] (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(115) 415 715 1010
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 [CC,DV] (PG-13)
Fri. - Sat.(100 345) 630 930
THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT [CC,DV] (PG-13) ★
Fri. - Sat.(100) 410 700 1000
THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY [CC,DV] (R)
Fri. - Sat.730 PM 945 PM
LONDON HAS FALLEN [CC,DV] (R)
Fri. - Sat.(130) 420 710 955
RISEN [CC,DV] (PG-13)
Fri. - Sat.(105 355) 645 930
KUNG FU PANDA 3 [CC,DV] (PG) Fri. - Sat.(115 PM 345 PM)
Times For 03/25 - 03/26 © 2016
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (DIG)
(PG-13)
9:45, 11:00, 1:45, 3:20, 4:45,
7:20, 8:55, 10:35
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN
OF JUSTICE (3D) (PG-13)
9:35, 10:55, 12:35, 2:40, 4:25,
4:55, 5:40, 8:45, 10:55, 11:25
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN
OF JUSTICE (DIG) (PG-13)
10:15, 11:40, 1:10, 1:55, 3:15,
6:25, 7:00, 8:00, 9:25, 10:10
THE BRONZE (DIG) (R)
7:45, 10:30
DEADPOOL (DIG) (R)
10:40, 1:20, 4:30, 7:30, 10:15
THE DIVERGENT SERIES:
ALLEGIANT (DIG) (PG-13)
10:25, 11:35, 1:15, 2:45, 4:20,
6:10, 7:25, 9:05, 10:25
KUNG FU PANDA 3 (DIG) (PG)
10:30, 1:30, 4:10
LONDON HAS FALLEN (DIG) (R)
1:35, 4:35, 7:35, 10:40
MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN
(DIG) (PG)
10:50, 1:40, 4:40, 7:40, 10:20
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2
(DIG) (PG-13)
9:50, 11:30, 2:05, 4:50, 7:15, 9:45
THE REVENANT (DIG) (R)
2:00, 6:20
RISEN (DIG) (PG-13)
10:20, 10:00
WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT
(DIG) (R)
12:30, 6:05
THE YOUNG MESSIAH (DIG)
(PG-13)
10:45AM
ZOOTOPIA (3D) (PG)
SPECIAL EVENT PRICING: $3.00
UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS
10:35, 4:15, 9:00, 10:05
ZOOTOPIA (DIG) (PG)
9:40, 12:25, 1:25, 3:25, 6:15, 7:10
3 OSCAR NOMINATIONS
BROOKLYN
5:00
1 OSCAR NOMINATION
HAIL, CEASAR!
5:10
CAROL
7:00
1 OSCAR NOMINATION
HAIL, CEASAR!
7:05
JOY
8:50
SISTERS
9:05
ALL AGES, ALL THE TIME
eugeneweekly.com • March 24, 2016
21