The modern culture industry has been shaped to the point where the purpose of art is not to share original ideas but to formulate revolutionary demands. Therefore, in the age of mechanical reproduction, cultural or ritualistic values have become worthless while the producers focus on pasting hidden meanings in the movies. That is why political beliefs can be either straightforwardly presented or hidden behind critical or relatable to societal topics. Overall, the truth is omitted or shaped so that the film reaches an audience and consciously plants needed information, which has little or no connection to real history.
To begin with, the modern culture industry has impacted the way films based on real stories are made and perceived by viewers. To elaborate, it no more feels that these stories are indeed factual and happened to real people at some time in the past. Viewers are manipulated into thinking in a particular way, which is helpful for leadership or politics to build a society that knows its place (Marx & Engels, 2022). In other words, people are mainly shown the behavior they should replicate to be useful to society (Marx & Engels, 2022a). However, “Embrace of the Serpent” proves that the purpose of the filmmaking industry has not been wholly lost, and producers still wish to present many essential topics on the big screens. This cinematic piece is nothing less than hypnotic, exploring the adventurous tale of the life of the last living member of the Amazonian tribe, Karakamate (Guerra, 2015). This film is based on this man’s real story, supposedly passed by the two men Karakamate encountered.
Surprisingly, this movie is captivating as it does not portray Karakamate’s tale without adding complexity, making viewers analyze what they see. At both young and elderly age, Karakamate joins an explorer whose aim is to find the magical healing plant that is supposedly located in the heart of the Amazon’s jungle (Guerra, 2015). Both occasions are portrayed separately, though they interconnect when the story repeats itself, and Karakamate finds himself in the same situation. It feels that coming back to the same case is deliberate, and such a timeline shows how history fades as new, but Benjamin (2022) claims that “nothing that has ever happened should be regarded as lost for history.” Nevertheless, the point of this piece is not to paint a portrait of a lonely Amazonian but just a specific version of that story. Consequently, it is fair to claim that this story has still been modified, but Max Weber (2019) still believes that “certainly all historical experience confirms the truth.” Therefore, it is impossible to be sure whether the viewers see the story’s presentation that indeed took place at some time in history.
Still, it is marvelous how this cinematic piece feels like a post-apocalyptic story, where only a few people alive are left, even though only the land of the Amazon River is present. It may be assumed that this is exactly the purpose of the movie – to show that everyone is alone in this world and has to protect only oneself (Marx & Engels, 2022a). Furthermore, the most prominent detail of this story is that the dream logic is applied more than the actual one, which is also unrealistic and shows people that everything is possible (Marx & Engels, 2022). To be more exact, even though Karakamate remains peaceful and calm in his adventures with both men, it still feels like they are just one step from reaching their goal of finding this magical flower.
Consequently, emotions of Karakamate slowly and steadily start to get revealed throughout the film when it becomes clear that he grieves the deaths of everyone he has ever known. Such a representation of his loneliness makes a viewer feel his loss and suffer with him till the end of the movie. Karakamate wishes to teach the two explorers about his tribe so that they can pass his lessons to the future generation as he dies, touching on the topic of fast-paced change in history (Benjamin, 2022). Besides, the newfound connection of viewers to the main character makes the sights of the Amazon River seem familiar and feel more like home.
“Embrace of the Serpent” explores important topics of loneliness in this world and the way history fades, taking memories about people with it. Thus, this movie is strongly focused on the pace of modern history and how people quickly shift their priority to the more exciting events happening now from those of the past (Benjamin, 2022). Furthermore, even as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (2022a) explore the communist movement to be a driving mechanism for many spheres, including the culture industry, this cinematic piece opposes each of their beliefs. “Embrace of the Serpent” is not crafted to show people how they are helpful to this world but to portray how every individual is unique and feels in the wrong place most of the time. However, it is indeed true that reality creates the mind as this film embarks on the social issues that are evident for people in this world (Marx & Engels, 2022). All in all, this story does not aim to plant communist or other political beliefs into viewers’ minds but shows the life of a lonely person that everyone can relate to.
To sum up, “Embrace of the Serpent” is a magnificent piece that captures the viewers’ attention just by showing how challenging it is to be alone in this world. Moreover, the cruelty of history is upsetting, as people have to fight to be remembered and pass their legacies to the next generations. Still, the movie’s complexity makes viewers think about the main character’s feelings and form their conclusions about his adventurous tale.
References
Benjamin, W. (2022). Illuminations. In H. Zohn (Trans.), Theses on the Philosophy of History (pp. 257–258). Penguin Random House.
Guerra, C. (2015). Embrace of the serpent. Buffalo Films.
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (2022). Manifesto of the communist party (S. Moore, Trans.). Independently published.
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (2022a). The German ideology: A new abridgement (T. Whyman, Trans.; Abridged ed.). Repeater.
Weber, M. (2019). Economy and society: A new translation (K. Tribe, Trans.; Translation ed.). Harvard University Press.