Los colonos

Watching The Settlers is a grueling, almost physical challenge. Some of the scenes are so disturbing, and presented with such unflinching realism, that it is impossible not to look away at times.

The presentation of the horror of the genocide in Chile, and the appalling treatment of the indigenous people, at the turn of the last century is depicted in a way that is moving in a all of the ways that Killing of the Flower Amon wanted to be (and simply wasn't).

All of the performances are fantastic, especially the Indian natives, whose traumatized and quiet demeanors seems to drive home the atrocities being inflicted on them.

The Horror!

Well, difficult to decide. We have been to Chile, a magnificent country, so beautiful and savage at the same time.

This film purports to tell the story of the foundation, or attempted foundation of Chile, at the start of the 20th century. I say "purports" because certain elements don't quite fit.

If you see it, can you divine how or why the half cast character decides to eliminate the indigenous peoples? He pretends to shoot them, he refuses to do what he is told by his supposed boss, a British ex soldier, and other oddities.

It can certainly be interpreted as a sideways view of the abuses of the colonisers, presuming on the well known terrible history of their invasion, but perhaps little else.

The presentation is unusual, but may be an interpretation of the horrors. Filmed mostly in the dark of winter, it is certainly not a tourist advertisement.

Interesting? Yes, but only as a viewpoint.

The Settlers is an aesthetically gorgeous looking movie with beautiful camerawork, colorful production, and interesting themes about colonialism and the brutality between people. Unfortunately, despite the good intentions of what the filmmaker is seeking, the movie doesn't offer anything new with it's themes and struggles with a lacking narrative.

The production and colorful aspects help set the tone and environment and the soundtrack and sound designs are good. The narrative tries to bring some interesting territories but the underdeveloped characters and cartoonish violence and style causes the movie to feel quite off. The performances are a mix of some pretty good and some pretty bad. The performances from the Chilean actors were pretty good but the performances from the English characters are pretty poor with some being a bit laughable.

The direction is solid. There have been movies that have explored the issues of colonialism but unfortunately The Settlers didn't really offer anything special or new to the table. I was quite disappointing to say.

"Los colonos" (aka "The Settlers") is an international production with a solid screenplay and measured directing by Felipe Gálvez Haberle. It may not be the best film of 2023, yet it deservedly won several international awards and is a haunting social commentary on colonialism to raise consciousness with an artistic flair. You would be hard pressed to find a more impactful movie in the last few years about indigenous atrocities. Even Martin Scorsese's superior "Killers of the Flower Moon" fails to express so viscerally and intellectually the lingering injustice and the inherent flaws of the system that prevails to this day.

The recent trend to, only when confronted, publicly acknowledge aspects of the world's most horrific genocide and culturicide in recorded history still lacks real solutions, salvation and changes necessary to avoid these types of atrocities in this new century. We are still faced with largely sanitised native history with selected omissions or distortions making there way to the classrooms and overall culture. Many think natives died of disease because of weaker or unprepared immune system and long time ago. This film shows 20th century history way after massacres like the Bloody River in St. Kitts, where roughly 2000 Kalinago natives were massacred by British and French forces in an unlikely alliance in the 17th century. We also now know that tens of thousands of native children were taken from their parents for "reducation" in Canada and hundreds massacred in a system that was active as late as 1996!

"Los colonos" forces us to look at our collective colonial past and present. The editing is poignant and the sudden switch in the narrative to a future with a more benevolent and supposedly peace-seeking politician, after the fact, to salvage the reputation of the government, inquire, blame and benefit is sublime. Doctrines of violence or pacification with docile "allies have always had the same aim: to solve the troublesome "problem of the savages on their ancestral land" that the colonisers claimed and simply took. This film's depiction (and deception) is marked with nuances and relates to current climate of "truth, reconciliation and inclusion" which has to date failed to produce tangible or real results.

Felipe Gálvez Haberle said in an interview that the history of cinema is also stained with blood in terms of what has been shown and how. Here, he examines this systemic colonial mindset that seeps into every aspect of our lives without much afterthought or questioning. He uses a 4:3 aspect ratio that is much less gimmicky than Bradley Cooper's "Maestro" and more aimed at providing a claustrophobic and time-capsule atmosphere, like perhaps the beautiful "The Lighthouse" from Robert Eggers in another genre of movie-making. Haberle and cinematographer Simone D'Arcangelo still manage to capture breathtaking Patagonia scenery along with some intimate interior shots and more graphic gut-wrenching scenes. It is not however overly graphic and let's the dialogue and unsaid or unseen events creep into the viewers mind as the story unfolds and is expertly exposed with a few satisfying and surprising twists.

A must-see for cinephiles, teachers and school children!

(8/10)

This revisionist western from Chile is a bleak and alarming tale which is based on the very real racism of colonialism, which targeted the indigenous people of that area circa 1900. The story is pretty simple and has a land baron send three men to clear the way for him, an ex-Army Brit, an American mercenary and a Mestizo, who is roped in somewhat uneasily due to his shooting skills. There are a minimal number of set-pieces which are based around the over-riding scenario of a genocide of a people whose misfortune was to live in a place landmarked for sheep.

It's mostly an ugly and brutal film, with a particularly depressing encounter where a group of natives are murdered and a woman raped. But the point is to show the horrors of colonialism in this land and what crimes were committed in its name. The story latterly also looks at how the authorities, under the guise of good intentions, buried the grim truth and promoted an idealistic myth. All-in-all, a pretty interesting and disquieting film, which also benefits from some great cinematography of some stunning Patagonian vistas.