Embrace of the Serpent

Inspired by the real-life journals kept by Theodor Koch-Grunberg (portrayed by Jan Bijvoet) and Richard Evans Schultes (Brionne Davis), the film charts each man's treacherous and life-changing journey. Though decades apart, both are guided through the labyrinthine rivers and jungles by the same native shaman, Karamakate (Nilbio Torres, and later Antonio Bolivar Salvado Yangiama), the last surviving member of his tribe, who takes them deeper and deeper into a heart of darkness... Recalling such visionary films as Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man and Werner Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Embrace of the Serpent grips with suspense and revelation as it meditates on both the beauty of nature and the devastating impact of colonial interference on native culture. The spectacular widescreen black and white cinematography and evocative sound design combine to depict the landscapes and characters with an hypnotic, mythical sense of wonder. At once blistering and poetic, Embrace of the Serpent is truly a one-of-a-kind accomplishment with a power described by several critics as 'Kubrickian'. It demands to be experienced on the big-screen. (Palace Films)