Tainos	La hamaca paraguaya	1492: Conquest of Paradise

The Mission

THE CARIBBEAN
	1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE Director: Ridley Scott Writer: Roselyne Bosch Cinematography: Adrian Biddle Music: Vangelis Papathanassiou 1992. 154 minutes. Rated PG-13. 2.20:1 Setting: Spain, Caribbean islands, 1491-1506 Languages: English, some Taino Availability: DVD (all region)	Amid magnificent cinematography and a transcendent score mixing Spanish, Moorish and tribal themes, Columbus is portrayed as a tragic hero with visions too grand for his time. He is also shown to be a protector of the Indians against other, more cruel Europeans. If all this sounds pompous, it is. It cannot be denied that Ridley Scott has created a sumptuous film, but a little more accuracy and balance would not have detracted from the epic swagger he has wrought. An all-region Brazilian DVD (in English, widescreen) has recently been released. 1492 was one of two films released that year in dubious honor of the quincentennial of Columbus' arrival in the Americas.
	CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS: THE DISCOVERY Director: John Glen Writers: Mario Puzo, John Briley Cinematography: Alec Mills Music: Cliff Eidelman 1992. 120 minutes. Rated PG-13. 2.25:1 Setting: Spain; San Salvador Languages: English Availability: VHS or region 2 DVD	This film focuses more on Columbus' bargaining with Spain, and on the sea crossing, than on his arrival. We don't meet the Tainos until the last half-hour of the film, and then they are do little besides passively witness the internal fueding of the Europeans deciding what to do with them. Marlon Brando plays a small role as Tomas de Torquemada, the archbishop who tries to prevent the voyage. Brando tried to get his name removed from the credits because the film glossed over Columbus' complicity in the genocide that followed his actions.
	TAÍNOS: LA ÚLTIMA TRIBU Director/writer/cinematographer: Benjamin Lopez Music: Enrique Cárdena, Martín Veguilla 2006. 117 minutes. 1.78:1 Setting: Puerto Rico; the present Language: Spanish Availability: DVD	In modern Puerto Rico, a group of archaeology students accidentally discover a tribe of Taínos in a remote part of the island, where they have remained hidden for centuries. The premise is fascinating, but the low budget and simplistic characterization make this film feel like a telenovela at times. Cool soundtrack. Website: tainoslapelicula.com
COLOMBIA
	CADA VOZ LLEVA SU ANGUSTIA (Every Voice Bears your Anguish) Director: Julio Bracho Writers: Julio Bracho, Alejandro Cotto Cinematography: Alex Phillips Jr. Music: Raúl Lavista 1965. 95 minutes. Black & white. Setting: Soacha (Andean town) Language: Spanish Availability: none	This film was made in Mexico, but is based on a novel by Colombian writer Jaime Ibáñez. In the Andean village of Soacha, Cob is in love with his cousin Maria. One day he gets drunk and hits her. Maria seeks refuge at the hut of old Ferro, whose wife has left him. Cob leaves the village and Ferro continues to shelter Maria. One day his son Nicolas spies her bathing and rapes her. The lame Isidro tries to stop him, and in revenge Nicolas burns Isidro's hut with him inside. Horrified by his own act, Nicolas throws himself over a cliff. This leaves Ferro and Maria to love each other freely. [I have not seen this film.] Sinopsis en español: En Soacha, pueblo de los Andes colombianos, es descubierto el cuerpo carbonizado del cojo Isidro dentro de su choza incendiada y, en el fondo de un despeñadero cercano, el del joven Nicolás. Se sospecha del padre de Nicolás, Ferro, por su mal carácter y por la pasión que le inspira la joven María, y solo el médico del lugar lo defiende. Flashback: Los campesinos quieren abandonar sus áridas tierras para ir en busca de las buenas que reparte el gobierno. Uno de ellos, Pablo, está dispuesto a partir, y otro, Cob, se aferra a su tierra natal. Cob ama a su prima María pero no se atreve a decírselo. Ferro, abandonado por su esposa, con su hijo Nicolás, de cuya paternidad duda, desiste de enamorar a María cuando comprueba que ella ama a Cob. Éste y María se unen pero él se emborracha por el sentimiento de culpa. Ebrio, Cob golpea a María y ella huye de la choza donde vive con él y se refugia con Ferro. Creyendose traicionado por María, Cob deja el lugar. María se queda en casa de Ferro quien la respeta y protege. Un día que María se baña, Nicolás que continuamente la espía, la viola, sin que el cojo Isidro pueda impedirlo, pero alcanza a dar a Nicolás un golpe con su muleta. En venganza, Nicolás quema la choza del cojo con él adentro. Horrorizado ante lo que ha hecho, Nicolás se despeña sin querer. Fin del flashback. María corresponde al amor de Ferro.
	LOS VIAJES DEL VIENTO (Wind Journeys) Director/writer: Ciro Guerra Cinematography: Paulo Andrés Pérez Music: Iván Ocampo, Marciano Martínez Editing: Iván Wild 2009. 117 minutes. 2.35:1. Setting: various towns & villages along Northern coast, 1968 Language: Spanish; some Arhuaco Availability: DVD	Ignacio Carrillo is a legendary accordion player who decides to give up playing after the death of his wife and return his instrument to his teacher, Maestro Guerra, whom he has not seen in years. As he sets out for the remote Guajira region of northern Colombia, a teenage boy, Fermin, impulsively decides to follow him, asking Ignacio to teach him. The grim, taciturn Ignacio refuses, but Fermin continues to follow him, and they trek through various small towns and countrysides. As their journey takes them to farther and farther regions, through mountains, deserts, prairies and beaches (all beautifully captured in widescreen aspect ratio 2.35:1), we learn that the young man and old are on similar yet opposite quests. Fermin reveals that his father was a musician who used to play with Ignacio. He has left his mother and girlfriend in a wild attempt to reconnect with his father by following this grumpy old man who just wants to be left alone, and is seeking his teacher in order to bring his musical career, and his life obligations to a close. Towards the end of the movie they pass through Nabusimake and meet the Arhuaca Indians, a fascinating community who restore the ailing Ignacio to health. Ultimately the pair reach their destination, the Guajira peninsula, where they encounter Wayuu Indians. The scenes with indigenous peoples are brief but fascinating, adding more wonder to this mesmerising, masterful film. Director Ciro Guerra says he made Los viajes del viento in part to introduce audiences to another side of Colombia besides the drug and gang scene so often shown in film. He has succeeded brilliantly, and his achievement is one of the finest Colombian films ever made. CAST: Ignacio: Marciano Martínez (a professional accordion player in real life) Fermin: Yull Núñez Guajira woman: Erminia Martínez Official site: www.losviajesdelviento.net/ DVD site: www.filmmovement.com/theatrical/index.asp?MerchandiseID=216 Sinopsis en español: Ignacio Carrillo, un juglar que durante años recorrió pueblos y regiones llevando cantos con su acordeón, toma la decisión de hacer un último viaje, a través de toda la región norte de Colombia, para devolverle el instrumento a su anciano maestro, y así nunca más volver a tocar. En el camino, encuentra a Fermín, un joven cuya ilusión en la vida es seguir sus pasos y ser como él. Cansado de la soledad, Ignacio acepta ser acompañado, y juntos emprenden el recorrido desde Majagual, Sucre, hasta Taroa, más allá del Desierto de la Guajira, encontrándose con la enorme diversidad de la cultura caribe y viviendo todo tipo de aventuras y encuentros.
PARAGUAY
	LA HAMACA PARAGUAYA (Paraguayan Hammock) Director/Writer: Paz Encina Cinematography: Willi Behnisch Music: Óscar Cardozo Ocampo 2006. 78 minutes. 1.85:1 Setting: Paraguay, 1935 Language: Guaraní Availability: not yet released	Ultra-minimalist film told almost entirely through the desultory conversation (in Guaraní) between an elderly couple whose son has gone off to fight in the Chaco War with Bolivia in 1935. We see the elderly couple sitting on a hammock in a clearing outside their forest home, complaining about mundane annoyances like the heat, the impending rain, and the barking dog, all of which mask their real anxiety for their absent son. In other scenes we see the mother and father individually, threshing the harvest or washing laundry at the pond while they remember, through voiceover, conversations with their son before he left for the war. While occasionally effective, the film is also unrelentingly monotonous: the story only has enough material for a half hour but drags on for 78 minutes. Paz Encina should have either made the film a short, or added more story (scenes of the son at war, for instance, or the community in which the parents live) to relieve the monotony of the film. The director has achieved artistic purity but risks losing her audience. Someone must have liked it, though: it won prizes in Argentina, Lima, Cannes, Rotterdam, and Sao Paulo. So I could be wrong.
	THE MISSION Director: Roland Joffé Writer: Robert Bold Cinematography: Chris Menges Music: Ennio Morricone 1986. 126 minutes. Rated PG. 2.2:1 Setting: Paraguay, 1750 Language: English, some Waurani Availability: DVD	Jesuit missionaries build a beautiful mission on the borders of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina, and they teach the Guarani Indians church music and modern agricultural techniques. They also have to fight off slave traders. One such trader, played by Robert De Niro, has a religious conversion and decides to join the Jesuits. All goes idyllically until officials arrive from Europe announcing that Spain has yielded its land to Portugal, which still practices slavery on Indians. When the Guarani threaten to resist, the church orders the mission shut down. De Niro the priest has yet another conversion and trades in his collar for a rifle to fight off the European soldiers. This is a gorgeous film with breathtaking cinematography. The Guarani Indians are played by the Waunani natives of Colombia. The Special Edition DVD has a commentary by director Roland Joffe (The Killing Fields) and a second disc on the making of the film.
URUGUAY
	TABARÉ Director/Writer: Luis Lezama Cinematography: Ezequiel Carrasco 1918. 5 reels. B&W. Setting: Uruguay, 1500s Language: Spanish Availability: lost	Filmed in Mexico, Tabaré is an adaptation of the epic poem by Uruguayan writer Juan Zorrilla de San Martín (1855-1931). It tells the story of Tabaré (played by Enrique Castilla), the cacique of a Charrúa tribe, who is half Indian and half Spanish. He is captured during the days of the Spanish conquest, and in captivity he falls in love with the Spanish Blanca, whom he rescues from other Indians, though he is ultimately killed by the Spaniards. The film is no longer extant, but a booklet titled Argumento de Tabaré (pictured at left) was recently discovered which includes the script, several stills and further information. Tabaré was remade by the same director as a U.S. production in 1946.
MOVIES NOT YET REVIEWED:
L'attente [Attention] (Maurice Tiouka, 1987, French Guyana, 16 min.) El nacimiento de un niño, la relación con sus padres y el entorno se convierten en motivo para reflexionar sobre las diferencias culturales y sociales que existen entre los indígenas y otros grupos sociales. A'walas Yu'it's [Estrellas y lagunas / Stars and Lagoons] (Marlenys de la C. Villamar, Colombia, 1997, 24 min.) Páez creation stories provide a counterpoint to an exploration of the community's approach to justice and punishment. Chambú, roca de cristal (Alejandro Kerk, Colombia, 1962) Based on the 1946 novel by Guillermo Edmundo Chaves on life in the mining town of Nariño in the 30s and 40s. Both the film and the German-born director disappeared. Retrato de la vida de los trabajadores de unas canteras de piedras, situadas en el suroccidente del país. Basado en la novela homónima de Guillermo Edmundo Chaves. Christopher Columbus (David MacDonald, 1949) Christopher Columbus (Alberto Lattuade, 1985) TV mini-series. Leyenda de Victorianito (Guillermo Prieto; Colombia, 1991, 27 min.) The Chami Indians enact a tale of a mestizo man's efforts to recover his Indian heritage. Quereimba: En Busca del Guerrero (Regina Monasterios, 1999, 25 min.) A guaraní girl tries to adapt to modern urban society and discovers corruption among her acquaintances. Starring Natalia Yaqui, Luis Hernando Vargas, Henry Arteaga, Jerónimo Mamani. The Three Sevens (Jorge Lozano & Alejandro Ronceria, Colombia, 1993, 21 min.) The story of a young native man from Colombia living in exile in Canada.