Los colonos

Tierra del Fuego early in the twentieth century. A rich Chilean landowner finds that the land can be exploited most profitably by turning it over to vast numbers of sheep. His problem is that the indigenous population aren't too keen on being elbowed aside. His solution is to hire armed guards.

Three of these - a former British soldier, an American hired gun and a. Mestizo chosen because he can shoot straight - are sent to find "A route to the Atlantic." Off they set, through awe-inspiring scenery wonderfully photographed ... and that's it.

They have three encounters. First with an Argentinian survey team, second with a group of indigenous people, third with a group headed by another former British soldier, whose motives are unclear. The first encounter is comedic, the second and third brutal.

The problem is that there's no resolution, no coherent story-arc. We cut from three riders on a beach to "Seven years later" when it's revealed that one of the original trio went on to commit other brutal acts on a larger scale, but is no longer living. These acts would've been powerful if shown on screen, but have much less impact when blandly recounted. Nor are the circumstances of the perpetrator's death disclosed. Then the film just ends.

There's much to like here, but the overwhelming feeling is that it could've been so much more.

"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)

First of all, there are some people here who have absolutely no idea about any Chilean history. This particular story is not real, but everything you see in the movie did happen, and more, muuuuch more. I am Chilean, or British and Native descent, and I have read on the topic extensively. What European settlers did in Patagonia will blow anyone's mind and this movie is a bit of refreshing justice on a world who chooses to forget. A must watch if you have the guts to face your ancestors history. Not a film for cowards.

I recommend anyone who wants to really know what Europeans did to google a little about it, and you'll find plenty about the Selknam, Alacalufe, Onas, Yaganes and many others who perished to feed and clothe the Europeans of the 19th and 20th century. PS: some wrote that is about the foundation of Chile, which is incorrect. The facts on this movie are hundreds of years after that.

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.

I've watched it at the Film Festival in Warsaw, Poland. In my opinion it's a masterpiece. Though it makes for a bleak and depressing viewing, as it demontrates the cynicism, barbaric cruelty and racism of the white colonizers towards the indigenous inhabitants of Patagonia at the end of the 19th century, it certainly is worth your time and the price of a cinema admission. I recommend watching it in a cinema, because it looks and sounds superbly. In fact every aspect of the filmmaking craft is excellent here: the direction, the script, acting, music and cinematography. Worth mentioning is the participation of the British ex-soldiers and a Texan in those events, it allows the film to indicate that the barbarity and greed demonstrated in Chile weren't something exceptional and peculiar but rather commonplace, similar atrocities were committed against the indigenous people in North America and by the British throughout their colonial empire.