The atrocities committed in Patagonia at the turn of the twentieth century are another relatively unknown chapter in the history of colonialism. Alexander McLennan, aka Red Pig, paid bounty hunters by the indigenous ear, in the process nearly wiping out the Selk’nam peoples. That historical figure is rechristened in Court’s brooding film as Mr Porter, a malevolent off-screen presence. The film opens with the arrival of Alfredo Castro’s creepy photographer, Pedro, on Porter’s isolated, windswept estancia, hired to photograph Porter’s child bride. Pedro then finds himself trapped there, caught up in the aimless, drunken lifestyle of the international band of mercenaries/ crofters. He struggles to fit in, finally participating in the indian hunts which the men conduct, and photographing them.
The film is light on narrative and heavy on atmosphere. The cinematography is breathtaking, José Ángel Alayón effortlessly capturing the desolation and the beauty. It’s slightly more opaque on the narrative front. Pedro is a reactive figure, an observer, and the film is happy to hang back and see events from his distanced perspective. There’s no great effort made at emotional engagement. Something which bothered this viewer initially, but then less and less. Gradually the horror of this place creeps up on the viewer, horror which is a mood as much as a sensation. The ending, framed by farce and cruelty, is a desperate and appropriate anti-climax, with Pedro having finally, irretrievably gone over to the dark side.
Nb: It seems a pity that the trailer for this film exploited its most inspired and haunting image, one which otherwise might have elicited a gasp and awe. This seems important on another level, as this moment is the one which straddles the apex between the two Patagonian worlds, the one which went before colonisation and the one that came after. As such the image is the film’s touchstone, which, seen out of context in a trailer, loses the value which it holds within the narrative of the film.
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