Fitzcarraldo Reflection
**This post was written on 1/26, but I forgot to publish it.**
I'll start this post by stating that I'm no film expert or critic, so I don't envision this being the most refined analysis. My impression of Fitzcarraldo is a mix of confusion, frustration and respect for the nature in which dynamics of implicit prejudice on the basis of race, culture, and national origin were considered in depth. Here are some examples for reflection:
I saw shots of natives throughout the film with little clothes on. Most of the men didn't wear shirts, the first being the man at the beginning of the film right as they returned home from the initial opera scene. There was another shot of a woman breastfeeding that reminded me of the picture we observed in class of the encounter with the woman in the hammock. This picture floated in and out of my mind as a unit of analysis for the film as a whole, since, in the painting, the Europeans arrived on ships and at first the natives were afraid.
The parallels to Hernan Cortes and Fransisco Pizarro were heavy handed and obvious to anyone who knows the basics of the Encounter. Cortes, like Fitzgerald, took advantage of religious traditions of the return of a god to subdue and use the natives for labor. I expected Fitzgerald to play into the god role a bit more than he did, but I thought it was interesting that he mainly used the role out of necessity to complete the task and for survival.
One other stylistic disparity between the natives and the Europeans was their clothing: Fitzcarraldo and his white crew wore white the entire film, which is a color synonymous with purity and peace. Meanwhile, the native tribe they encountered wore red face paint, which is a color synonymous with aggression, blood, and even savagery. I think this connotation had to be purposeful, and it also increased the level of tension subliminally. The tension that is latent throughout the film served as a commentary on the unwillingness of natives to be subdued, and the consistent fear of rebellion by the conquerors. The fear was an implicit acknowledgement by Fitzcarraldo and crew that their actions were inherently, even if unintentionally oppressive.
Lets move now to the influence of opera. Opera is a dominant part of western art and culture during the period of the encounter, and served as an image of "civilized society." Fitzgerald's obsession to bring opera to the natives must be seen as a desire to bring them culture and civilizing influence, which is interesting given that he himself spurns the nice house and chooses to sleep in a hammock next to a pig, the animal arguably most symbolic with filth and destitution.
I'll be frank, I didn't like the ending. I thought it tried to wrap a bow on the plot without wrapping the gift first. There were too many loose ends. Yes, Fitzgerald got his opera on a boat, but there was no mention of the advent of a rubber trade or the outcome of the land or the natives that worked it. I think this is a powerful reminder that history is written by the victors, and the story from the beginning was centered around Fitzcarraldo, just as the colonial narrative centered around Europe and brushes over the consequences for Native Americans.
Overall, Fitzcarraldo is a fascinating exploration into the dynamics of prejudice and imperialism that ultimately shows that the land, culture and way of life of Latin America cannot be subdued. Fitzgerald's white ship with his white clothes are beaten by the rapids and nearly destroyed, but they survive and return to a dissatisfying end.
**This post was written on 1/26, but I forgot to publish it.**
I'll start this post by stating that I'm no film expert or critic, so I don't envision this being the most refined analysis. My impression of Fitzcarraldo is a mix of confusion, frustration and respect for the nature in which dynamics of implicit prejudice on the basis of race, culture, and national origin were considered in depth. Here are some examples for reflection:
I saw shots of natives throughout the film with little clothes on. Most of the men didn't wear shirts, the first being the man at the beginning of the film right as they returned home from the initial opera scene. There was another shot of a woman breastfeeding that reminded me of the picture we observed in class of the encounter with the woman in the hammock. This picture floated in and out of my mind as a unit of analysis for the film as a whole, since, in the painting, the Europeans arrived on ships and at first the natives were afraid.
The parallels to Hernan Cortes and Fransisco Pizarro were heavy handed and obvious to anyone who knows the basics of the Encounter. Cortes, like Fitzgerald, took advantage of religious traditions of the return of a god to subdue and use the natives for labor. I expected Fitzgerald to play into the god role a bit more than he did, but I thought it was interesting that he mainly used the role out of necessity to complete the task and for survival.
One other stylistic disparity between the natives and the Europeans was their clothing: Fitzcarraldo and his white crew wore white the entire film, which is a color synonymous with purity and peace. Meanwhile, the native tribe they encountered wore red face paint, which is a color synonymous with aggression, blood, and even savagery. I think this connotation had to be purposeful, and it also increased the level of tension subliminally. The tension that is latent throughout the film served as a commentary on the unwillingness of natives to be subdued, and the consistent fear of rebellion by the conquerors. The fear was an implicit acknowledgement by Fitzcarraldo and crew that their actions were inherently, even if unintentionally oppressive.
Lets move now to the influence of opera. Opera is a dominant part of western art and culture during the period of the encounter, and served as an image of "civilized society." Fitzgerald's obsession to bring opera to the natives must be seen as a desire to bring them culture and civilizing influence, which is interesting given that he himself spurns the nice house and chooses to sleep in a hammock next to a pig, the animal arguably most symbolic with filth and destitution.
I'll be frank, I didn't like the ending. I thought it tried to wrap a bow on the plot without wrapping the gift first. There were too many loose ends. Yes, Fitzgerald got his opera on a boat, but there was no mention of the advent of a rubber trade or the outcome of the land or the natives that worked it. I think this is a powerful reminder that history is written by the victors, and the story from the beginning was centered around Fitzcarraldo, just as the colonial narrative centered around Europe and brushes over the consequences for Native Americans.
Overall, Fitzcarraldo is a fascinating exploration into the dynamics of prejudice and imperialism that ultimately shows that the land, culture and way of life of Latin America cannot be subdued. Fitzgerald's white ship with his white clothes are beaten by the rapids and nearly destroyed, but they survive and return to a dissatisfying end.
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