"Music Tamed the Beast"
Fitzcarraldo is a 1980s film about an ambitious, aspiring rubber baron who will do just about anything--climb any mountain--to make sure that an opera house is built in his home settlement along the amazon river in Peru. Though one would assume this film to be lighthearted in nature, the undercurrent of racism and bordering preposterous scenes serves to highlight the absurd yet long lasting effects of colonization, displacement of natives, and the view that the natives of the land may serve for nothing more than hands of labor and are to be exploited--all while taking the phrase "it was music that soothed the beast" to new heights.
Seen in many scenes throughout the film is the role of people who would have been referred to as civilized natives or mestizos; people of native descent who in some way have been tamed of the "savage" instincts and now serve their European (and significantly lighter) saviors. There are many mestizos in this group who rarely talk, but nod and smile politely, even if they are being groped (such was the case with Huerequeque and his assistants. To further highlight the "civilized" nature of the Mestizos, Fitcarraldo frequently holds concerts of sorts where he has a gramaphone and will play opera records for Mestizo children (and a pig) all of whom seem to sit in quiet reverence--further bolstering Fitzcarraldo's need to bring opera to the amazon.
Possibly one of the most important moments in the exposition of the film is when Fitzcarraldo and his team are sailing along the Pachitea, finally in wild Native territory and the Fitz decides to bless the surrounding jungle (and natives) with the sound opera. Though the moment is still a bit tense with the indian threat lurking, there is also a tone of tranquility brought about by the music and once again all is quiet and still. The vast jungle and the nearby natives are seemingly soothed and entranced by the sound coming from the imposing beast that is the steam ship--and we as viewers see this as we get an image of a group of indians, lurking in the shadows of the trees in their canoes, their weapons present yet not drawn in a menacing manner. The image in general, cast in the viewpoint of the natives, would likely seem other worldly and holy: a large imposing, white boat, chugging along their river, black smoke being exhaled, accompanied by ethereal, other worldly music, and all while a man of white skin and clothes stands triumphantly and watches over them. The natives do not attack the steam boat and once again we see the power of music and it's ability to tame and quell. Of course, after this apparent god send, the natives seem all but happy to help this strange man in white with whatever task he needs, and so begins the general exploitation of a people that had remained just as unexploited as the land they claimed and protected--soothed by the power of music and a white man.
Seen in many scenes throughout the film is the role of people who would have been referred to as civilized natives or mestizos; people of native descent who in some way have been tamed of the "savage" instincts and now serve their European (and significantly lighter) saviors. There are many mestizos in this group who rarely talk, but nod and smile politely, even if they are being groped (such was the case with Huerequeque and his assistants. To further highlight the "civilized" nature of the Mestizos, Fitcarraldo frequently holds concerts of sorts where he has a gramaphone and will play opera records for Mestizo children (and a pig) all of whom seem to sit in quiet reverence--further bolstering Fitzcarraldo's need to bring opera to the amazon.
Possibly one of the most important moments in the exposition of the film is when Fitzcarraldo and his team are sailing along the Pachitea, finally in wild Native territory and the Fitz decides to bless the surrounding jungle (and natives) with the sound opera. Though the moment is still a bit tense with the indian threat lurking, there is also a tone of tranquility brought about by the music and once again all is quiet and still. The vast jungle and the nearby natives are seemingly soothed and entranced by the sound coming from the imposing beast that is the steam ship--and we as viewers see this as we get an image of a group of indians, lurking in the shadows of the trees in their canoes, their weapons present yet not drawn in a menacing manner. The image in general, cast in the viewpoint of the natives, would likely seem other worldly and holy: a large imposing, white boat, chugging along their river, black smoke being exhaled, accompanied by ethereal, other worldly music, and all while a man of white skin and clothes stands triumphantly and watches over them. The natives do not attack the steam boat and once again we see the power of music and it's ability to tame and quell. Of course, after this apparent god send, the natives seem all but happy to help this strange man in white with whatever task he needs, and so begins the general exploitation of a people that had remained just as unexploited as the land they claimed and protected--soothed by the power of music and a white man.
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