When I watched this movie, I tried to drag the progress bar several times, but in the end I didn't do it. But after a while, instead, I sometimes remembered the plot inside, and I became more and more aware that this movie is still a bit interesting.
Saying "dogs of the bereavement", it is common sense that the colonized aboriginals should be given this title. Of course, this is true in the movies. European colonists treat the aboriginals as slaves and can beat them at will and make them work. But the film director did not insist on letting the audience find too much empathy in the slaves. Instead, the protagonist "Shepherd" Zama fell into a very miserable situation.
The most appropriate adjective throughout the story of Zama is "mourning". The protagonist, the actor, has unshaven beard, droopy eyelids, and the sluggishness on his face can't be more obvious. Before the film title ZAMA appeared, there were two plots. One was that the protagonist was caught watching an indigenous woman taking a bath, and was chased in embarrassment. The second is to interrogate the indigenous prisoner at work, but the prisoner died without speaking. From the very beginning, the protagonist has continued to fail. But he was not a failure in a charge and formation. There was no such thing as "Wild Hunter" and so on that talked about European knights vs. Indian savages in colonial movies. Instead, he failed in daily trivial matters. The daughter of the landlord who she liked was insulted and watched the robber run by in front of her. I wanted to help businessmen from other places to negotiate business, but the businessman fell ill and died. I went to find the wife of the Minister of Finance, who was ambiguous with me, and found that I was flirting with others. Unable to get the king's transfer order, not only was he scolded by the governor, but he was always deceived by the governor. The place where I lived was gone. I was really "lost" and moved to a dilapidated hotel. The proprietress was still a god-wife pretending to be a ghost, and was later turned indifferently by the mother of his illegitimate child. At the end, I finally wanted to get addicted, made a big news to let the king know about himself, embarked on a journey to capture the legendary bandit leader Vicuña Porto, and was eventually caught by the wild natives to play with him. The bandit leader chopped off his hands. Throughout Zama’s colonial career, it can be said that he is helpless, has no relatives, no reason, and no hope. In the end, his bare-bottomed bastard saved him, which is really "like a dog."
All the plots, the director is very slow, many fixed-position long shots, very dull, just like the character image of Zama boring gourd, without exception, strengthen Zama's failed life. If you want to return to Europe, you can only get tired of coping and almost die in South America. For these colonized and colonized ordinary people, life in the colony is a lose-lose. The beauty of the story lies in the contrast between the winner and the loser, which is quite refreshing.
In the end, the shot of the boat pushing the algae forward is so beautiful. South America is really a fertile land with endless scenery. I also want to lie in such a boat and wander around, but of course I can’t be like the protagonist, but must be in good health. . .
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