DramaHistory

Zama

In a remote South American colony in the late 18th century, officer Zama of the Spanish crown waits in vain for a transfer to a more prestigious location. He suffers small humiliations and petty politicking as he increasingly succumbs to lust and paranoia.

Release Date : 2017-09-28

Language :GuaraniPortugueseSpanish

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Bananeira FilmesCananaEl DeseoO Som e a FúriaRei PicturesPatagonikMPM FilmLemming FilmKNMLouverture FilmsSchortcut FilmsPicnic ProduccionesPerdomo Productions

Production Country : ArgentinaBrazilSpainPortugalMexicoFranceLebanonNetherlandsUnited States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Don Diego de Zama

Original Name : Daniel Giménez Cacho

Gender : Male

Character Name : Luciana Piñares de Luenga

Original Name : Lola Dueñas

Gender : Female

Character Name : Vicuña Porto / Gaspar Toledo

Original Name : Matheus Nachtergaele

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ventura Prieto

Original Name : Juan Minujín

Gender : Male

Character Name : Manuel Fernández

Original Name : Nahuel Cano

Gender : Male

Character Name : Malemba

Original Name : Mariana Nunes

Gender : Female

Character Name : El Oriental

Original Name : Carlos Defeo

Gender : Male

Character Name : Capitán Hipólito Parrilla

Original Name : Rafael Spregelburd

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gobernador II

Original Name : Daniel Veronese

Gender : Male

Character Name : Indalecio

Original Name : Germán de Silva

Gender : Male

Character Name : Obispo

Original Name : Willy Lemos

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ministro Contador

Original Name : Vando Villamil

Gender : Male

Character Name : Faltito

Original Name : Marcelo Sein

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gobernador I

Original Name : Gustavo Böhm

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mensajero I

Original Name : Massamba Seye

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Edgar Acosta

Gender : Male

Character Name : Domingo

Original Name : Ricardo Merkin

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-05-17

Daniel Giménez Cacho is the eponymous corregidor who has long since served his King in a Spanish colony in South America, hoping that he will soon earn a promotion and be able to leave this fairly squalid existence. He has a wife and child and to get back to them he is prepared to do pretty much anything, but gradually the man realises that he is but a pawn in a game being played by his superiors - who don't really want to be there either - that plays well to the narcissism and absolutism of a provincial administration that endowed the governor with kinglike powers to be used in petty and vengeful ways. Though "Zama" is more decent than many, there is is still a stark superiority complex amongst the conquerors whose treatment of the non-Christian and highly superstitious native population borders on the barbaric. There's a good Scots expression about being "king of your own midden" and Cacho et al deliver that sense well, especially when clad in their ill-fitting wigs and heavy European garments that further emphasise that they just don't belong here. Will he get his promotion? In many ways the production reminded me of Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo" (!982) as it really does encapsulate onto film the hostility of the terrain and the environment in which "Zama" lives. It also depicts the natives as little better than savages whilst the narrative itself reveals that they are nowhere near as subjected as their European masters might like to think. Morally and physically it's an uncomfortable film to watch, but that's not a bad thing. It makes us think a little about the building blocks of empire and though it does plod along at times, is quite an interesting depiction of a man who is just as trapped as any he supervises.