Embrace Of The Serpent Analysis

Ciro Guerra’s Embrace of the Serpent examines issues facing native tribes in the Amazon (Ciro Guerra, 2015). Critiques of these issues are found throughout the film. These ideological critiques are crucial to the viewer’s understanding and appreciation of the film. The introduction to the film was given by Dr. Mark Hain. His approach to contextualize the film was given through an examination of the ideologies encoded into the film. Some of these ideologies included issues with colonialism and the exploitation of resources, including humans.
Ideological critiques, as discussed by Dr. Hain in the introduction, are felt throughout the film in relation to the issues that develop in the aftermath of colonialism. An example in the film is in the

For example, in one scene where Manduca finds a rubber tree plantation, he grows angry and overturns the buckets collecting the rubber. He does this because of his past as a slave at a rubber plantation. The camera pans by these trees, and tracks Manduca’s movements through the plantation using tracking shots. A current slave runs up to Manduca and pleads to be killed by Manduca because of the punishment he will receive for the loss of the rubber. At this moment, the viewer sees the toll slavery has had on this exploited individual through close ups of the character, revealing scars on his face, and a missing arm. These close-up shots of the slave force the viewer to witness these horrifying injuries, and contributes to the meaning of the

Hain’s assessment of the film through the utilization of an ideological approach. Ideological issues are raised throughout the film, and comprise the decoded meaning of the film. Throughout the film, these ideological critiques are addressed and felt, many times, through Karamakate, the last of his tribe. He displays anger, frustration, and sadness at the exploitation of his people and the results of colonialism in his homeland.
Ciro Guerra’s Embrace of the Serpent discusses many ideological issue, specifically the exploitation of natural resources and the natives of the Amazonian region. Through exceptional camera work, dialogue, and character blocking, the film’s meaning becomes evident to the viewer. While the film examines many dark themes, Embrace of the Serpent, in its final scene, offers hope that people, like Evan, can gain a respect for indigenous cultures and the nature that surrounds