nithig In a year that has been rather bleak for grown ups Embrace of the Serpent stands out like a bright light. Intelligent, fascinating, anthropological...if it was a book it would be a real page turner. I loved everything about this film from the powerful presence of Nilbio Torres' & Antonio Boliva as the admirable and wise Karamakate to the critique of Western culture with its twisted, arrogant & so often brutal religion along with its insatiable misappropriation of other's wealth and culture for mere pieces of silver and the patient and sentient willingness of the central figure (deemed savage of course by European eyes) to bring life and understanding to the very German Theo, so stiff and attached to all the wrong things in life. It's beautifully filmed and there is not a single moment of tedium or narrowness as the story unfolds over several decades. Wonderful treat and it lingers long in the imagination after the film has ended. Frankly it's inspirational.

Ian (Flash Review)Not just relating to the Amazon River but the introspection of depth that the man seeking a rare healing plant must dive into in order to find it. That is the core story line but there is much more to it and open to one's personal perspectives. The film is shot in rich black and white and has two timelines. Two white men, 40 years apart or so locate the same native who knows where to find the plant. So you get the see the native as a young buck and a wise old man. The two timelines allow the viewer to see the effect of some modern cultures that have slipped into their primitive world over time. Yet another story nugget is more spiritual. Both searches (old and new) are on long journeys through the jungle and as they search the native encourages the white man to help locate the plant by looking into his soul and feel for it and ask the jungle for help. Pretty interesting film with great cinematography, authentic cultural scenes and some very surreal moments yet some may find the pace a bit sluggish.

Tom Dooley This is a visually stunning film that is based on the diaries of Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evan Schultes – German anthropologists. It relates to one Amazonian warrior called Karamakate. He meets Theo in 1909 who needs the drug from a rare plant to cure his illness and Karamakate is the only person alive who knows where it grows.We have the parallel story some 30 odd years later when another 'scientist' turns up seeking the same drug – from the same man. Both stories are intertwined but both very different. It also sheds light on the crimes of the colonial past, the wickedness of the rubber barons and the callousness and bigotry of the missionaries but it is all done in an unfolding and mesmeric way.This is filmed in black and white but is stunning at capturing the beauty and majesty of the Amazon and the people. The acting is just superb – almost like you are being a voyeur on other people's real lives. It lasts for over two hours as well, but does not seem like it at all. One of the best films I have seen this year and for reasons that are leagues apart from what would normally make a film 'unmissable'. Needless to say I aim to watch this again as I am sure I will get more on subsequent viewings.

KissEnglishPasto ......................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA and ORLANDO, FL It isn't much of a leap to venture that the vast majority of IMDb Users have never seen a Colombian Film. If there is a single word in the above Title that grabs you, rest assured, you must "EMBRACE" this Oscar-nominated gem by placing it at the top of your "Must See" List! Colombian Director Ciro Guerra (Los Viajes del Viento/read my Review) has taken an Amazonian Shaman's reality-based Dream and crafted it into a visionary cinematic hallucination for the ages! The operative term here is "Culture-Clash". Two delicately intertwined story lines, both inspired by travel journals authored three decades apart by two Amazonian explorers; German scientist Theodor Koch-Grunberg (Jan Bijvoet, "Borgman"), in 1909, and by American amateur botanist Richard Evans Schultes (Brionne Davis, "Avenged"), thirty years later. EMBRACE opens a gritty and convincingly realistic window into the Colombian Amazon Region of the early 20th Century. Guerra gets up close and personal with some of the persistent cultural atrocities perpetrated on indigenous peoples in the Amazon region of Colombia, without dwelling inordinately on them. As if the three plus centuries of Spanish Colonial Rule had not provided enough genocide and torture!For those of you addicted to "Fast and Furious" pacing in movies, undoubtedly, will find EMBRACE a bit "Tedious and Slow", but I would say, "Deliberate and True to Life". One can, at best, barely imagine the laid- back life rhythms in remote regions of the Amazon a century ago! The intentional ever-so-slightly grainy Black & White cinematography imbues EMBRACE with an authentic 1930's look and feel. Of course, there have been numerous critiques of thusly having deprived us of the myriad of Amazon shades of green…But EMBRACE is not a Travel Promo and I applaud Ciro Guerra's Black & White decision! Here is a comment/comparison you probably might not see anywhere else: Although Director Ciro Guerra was born in 1981, I can't help but think that, as a kid, he saw and was influenced by Stanley Kubrick's 1968, "2001" (My Favorite Movie)! There were, in my opinion, a number of interesting parallels, confirmation of which I will leave up to you! Shaman Karamakate, the last survivor of his tribe (Nibio Torres-young/Antonio Bolivar-old) who has been chewed up and spit out as a lifelong victim of culture clash, and, as a result, defines himself as "chullachaqui", a walking empty shell zombie of a man.EMBRACE is light years from being a feel-good movie, yet, there is a "spirituality and focus which can help you transcend even a worst- case scenario of mistreatment and misfortune in life", that is transformational and which provides ground swelling inspiration! This unique film would probably appeal to those who crave unusual true stories, those of you who enjoy Drama focused on a Clash of Cultures, and movies set in exotic locations! 10*.....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!