Directed by Lucrecia Martel
Argentina | 2017 | Fiction | 115 min | Spanish w/English subtitles
Film Source: Strand Releasing
Awards / premier festivals: Venice, Toronto, New York
Visually and dramatically powerful, with an epic grandeur evocative of Werner Herzog and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, acclaimed Argentine director Lucretia Martel creates a surreal, dreamlike portrait of 18th century Spanish colonialism in the New World with dense, precise detail and masterful sound, set and color design. The main character, Don Diego de Zama, is tragicomic and Kafkaesque, a beleaguered agent of Western colonialism who was born a Creole in the New World and now, because of bureaucracy and prejudice, cannot escape to the more "civilized" Spanish territory he covets. Though details between native slaves and invaders reflect the violence implicit in 18th century colonial racism, Zama is very much of our time. The film has impressive producing credits, including Pedro Almodóvar, Gael García Bernal and Danny Glover, showing the faith they have in one of cinema's finest directors.~ AM