Zama

2017
Theme: Spotlight Selection
Country: The Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil, Dominikaaninen tasavalta, Spain, Lebanon, Mexico, Portugal, France, Switzerland, United States
Director: Lucrecia Martel
Screenplay: Lucrecia Martel
Starring: Daniel Giménez Cacho, Matheus Nachtergaele, Juan Minujín, Lola Dueñas, Rafael Spregelburd
Language: Spanish
Distribution: The Match FactoryPrint source: The Match Factory
Cinematography: Rui Poças
Editing: Miguel Schverdfinger, Karen Harley
Production: Benjamin Domenech, Santiago Gallelli, Matías Roveda, Vania Catani / Rei Cine, Bananeira Filmes
Duration: 115 min
Age limit: K16
    Helsinki International Film Festival
    DCP with English subittles viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 25 Sep 2018

David Sims (The Atlantic) quoted by HIFF: "The Argentine auteur Lucrecia Martel’s first narrative film in nine years, Zama is a warped portrait of colonial power left to rot in the sun, a feverishly funny and surreal experience that mostly turns its nose up at narrative."

"The film is set in the late 18th century; [Diego de] Zama is the corregidor (colonial administrator) of some distant province […], but he craves a more splendid post. Every attempt to move away runs into procedural and bureaucratic bulwarks; travelers come from more prosperous, far-off places the viewer never sees. Zama is trapped, and as the film progresses his little fiefdom devolves further into disrepair."

"Martel’s movie benefits from not feeling lavish; for all the lush period details there’s nothing aspirational about the life depicted in Zama (a common trap for any satire about life atop a colonial empire). The film is too disorienting and queasy for that."

"Martel has never made a film quite this strange, but she’s always been an opaque storyteller. Zama, much like her other works […], burrowed into my brain after I’d seen it. There’s absolutely nothing else like it […]. Zama is a viewing experience that […] blooms in bold, surprising directions." David Sims, The Atlantic quoted by HIFF

AA: I managed to catch the first 45 minutes of Lucrecia Martel's new film. It is a historical story from the 18th century told with an intimate approach. The corregidor Diego de Zama is officially in charge but actually terribly lost in the circumstances of colonial administration. His story is another illustration of Hegel's claim that in conditions of slavery no one is free.

The film is very sensual and vibrant, starting from the native women's mudbath which Zama is caught snooping. The name of the enigmatic rebel Vicuña Morto keeps reappearing. He has been reported killed 1000 times, but he never seems to go away. The ubiquitous atmosphere of oppression is caught without undue graphic detail of violence.

Everywhere there is a sense of awkwardness and fatigue. Everybody is ill at ease.

The colour solution is unusual: the colour is muted and opaque.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: THE FINNISH HIFF CATALOGUE INTRODUCTION BY SARI SELANDER:
BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: THE FINNISH HIFF CATALOGUE INTRODUCTION BY SARI SELANDER:

Kruunun virkamies Diego de Zama (Daniel Giménez Cacho) odottaa jossain Paraguayn takamailla siirtoa kotikaupunkiin. Mitä pidemmäksi odotus venyy, sitä harhaisemmaksi muuttuu miehen mieli.
Elokuvan alussa Zama lymyilee pusikossa tiirailemassa mudassa kylpeviä alastomia naisia. Eräs alkuasukkaista lähtee jahtaamaan tirkistelijää ja nöyryyttää tätä naisporukan nähden. Zama reagoi aggressiolla, mikä ei poista nöyryytystä. Aivan yhtä hukassa hän on koko ajan. Naisten lisäksi muu virkamieskunta suhtautuu häneen samalla tavalla ylenkatsoen. Viimeinen tilaisuus saada sankarin sulka hattuun on lähteä metsästämään vaarallista Vicuña Portoa, josta on tullut kylässä legenda; kukaan ei tiedä varmaksi, onko ryöväri jo lahdattu vai edelleen elossa.

Niin Uuden maailman luonto kuin alkuasukkaat ovat Zaman silmissä läpitunkemattomia ja vihamielisiä. Ulkopuolisuuden tunnetta ja uhkaavaa luontoa alleviivaa Zaman persoonallinen äänimaailma. Mystinen, absurdi elokuva on saanut suitsutusta kansainvälisissä medioissa New York Timesia myöten.

Lucrecia Martel nousi arthouse-piirien tietoisuuteen 2000-luvun alussa kolmella elokuvallaan (La ciénaga, R&A 2001; La niña santa, R&A 2004; La mujer sin cabeza, 2008), mutta viimeisimmän Cannes-ensi-illan jälkeen koitti yhdeksän vuoden hiljaisuus. Uusinta elokuvaa eivät odottaneet pelkästään fanit. Zaman osatuottajiksi ilmoittautui monta isoa nimeä, kuten Almodóvarin veljekset, Gael García Bernal ja Danny Glover.

Sari Selander