Other movies featuring Native Peoples of Central & South America

Part One: Films available on DVD

Title:	Year:	Setting:	Language:	Grade:	Comments:
Royal Hunt of the Sun	1969	Spain & Per�, 1530s	English	Good	Stiff, verbose drama with British actors playing Spaniard and Incan alike. Christopher Plummer brings a welcome eccentricity to the role of delusional king Atahualpa held captive by conquistadores. Based on a play by Peter Shaffer.
Aguirre: The Wrath of God	1972	Per�, 1500s	German	Classic	Incan and Amazonian Indians only play minor parts on screen but loom large over the fate of the hubristic explorers in this masterpiece by director Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski is brilliant as the mad Aguirre driving his companions to doom on the unknown Amazon. A thematic cousin to Apocalypse Now.
Chac: The Rain God	1975	Chiapas, Mexico	Tzeltal	Classic	A mesmerizing film acted entirely by Mayan Indians. Suffering from a drought, the Mayans seek out a shaman to appeal to the rain god. This film has a subdued bizarreness reminiscent of Planet of the Apes.
Nuevo Mundo	1978	Mexico	Spanish	?	I haven't seen this one yet. The Catholic Church banned it.
Fitzcarraldo	1982	Amazon River in Per�	English	Classic	An English entrepreneur seeks to build an opera house in the Amazon. He enlists the aid of the Ashaninka Indians to pursue his Gatsby-esque dream. The natives don't appear until halfway through the film, but when they do... wow! A grand, magnificent film with a slow start.
The Mission	1986	Paraguay, 1500s	English	Great	Tensions between Guarani natives and Europeans flare up as unseen powers in Spain and Portugal negotiate their territories. This film has been criticised for portraying the missionaries as more benign, and the Guarani as more submissive, than they actually were. Take it with a grain of salt and enjoy the beautiful footage of nature and the natives who live intimately with it.
Mosquito Coast	1986	USA; Brazilian rainforest	English	Great	An inventor disgusted with greed and materialism abandons civilization and moves his family to the Brazilian rainforest. His idealism gradually becomes an obsession that turns his family into captives in his mad quest. Indians only play a small role in the film, but I recommend it here because the father's obsession is comparable to that of Aguirre, and because it stars a young and beautiful River Phoenix.
Men with Guns (Hombres Armados)	1997	unnamed Latin American country	Spanish, Tzotzil, N�huatl	Classic	A doctor who had trained students to treat Indians living in remote areas finds that many of his students have disappeared. Their former patients offer no help in finding them as they are suppressed and exploited by opposing military forces. Another powerful drama from wildcard filmmaker John Sayles. Buy the soundtrack, too!
Santo Luzbel (Saint Lucifer)	1997	Puebla, Mexico	Spanish and N�huatl	Good	A group of N�huatl Indians plan to perform a religious pageant in the local church, as they have done for years, but the new priest forbids it because he thinks it glorifies Lucifer (Luzbel). Religion, racism, and a gnarly translation problem in the ancient Tlayectiltlahtocatzintzin text lead to a violent confrontation. The dialogue switches freely between Spanish and N�huatl. This film won several awards.
Rito Terminal	1999	Oaxaca, Mexico	Spanish and N�huatl	Good	A photographer from Mexico City visits a small town in Oaxaca to document a religious festival. He meddles in sacred affairs, invoking the wrath of the local hechicera. Strange and disorienting with just a hint of horror, but also a thoughtful examination of the conflicts between ladinos and indigenas, and urban and rural lifestyles.
La Otra Conquista	1999	Mexico	Spanish	?	Not yet available in the U.S. Check out the trailer on YouTube in English or espa�ol
The End of the Spear	2005	Ecuador	English	?	A clash between missionaries and rain forest natives. I haven't seen this one yet.
Ta�nos: La �ltima Tribu	2006	Puerto Rico	Spanish	Good	In modern Puerto Rico, group of Tainos are discovered hiding in a remote part of the island. This film has a made-for-TV look and feel, but it's worth watching.
Apocalypto	2006	Southern Mexico, early 1500s	Yucateco	Great	Rudy Youngblood is hot as a Mayan escaping ritual sacrifice in this frenetic action flick. Exceedingly violent, with infrequent glimpses of Mayan culture.
Part Two: Rare and Out of Print Films
Title:	Year:	Setting:	Language:	Grade:	Comments:
Yawar Mallku (Blood of the Condor)	1969	Bolivia	Spanish	?	A clash between indigenous people and the Peace Corps, who are rumored to have started a secret sterilization program to eliminate them. Directed by Jorge Sanjin�s, who made several other films about the poor in Bolivia (none in print, unfortunately).
La Muralla Verde (The Green Wall)	1970	Per�	Spanish	Classic	A beautiful experimental film about a young couple who abandon their hectic city existence in Lima to build more meaningful lives in the rain forest. Great cinematography, often with jarring juxtapositions that seem influenced by Mondo Cane. Actually, there are no Indians in this movie, but it fits thematically, and it is a great artistic achievement and I would like to support its re-issue.
El Dorado	1988	Per�, 1500s	Spanish	?	Directed by Carlos Saura.
Cabeza de Vaca	1991	Florida to Texas	Spanish, Iguase	Classic	Disturbing, bizarre, unforgettable tale of a Spaniard who gets lost and must learn to live with the Iguase Indians.
Retorno a Aztlan	1991	Precolumbian Mexico	N�huatl (Aztec)	?	Also known as In Necuepaliztli in Aztlan.
1492: Conquest of Paradise	1992	Caribbean	English	?	One of two films that year celebrating the quincentennial of Columbus' arrival in the Americas.
At Play in the Fields of the Lord	1992	Brazilian rainforest	English	?	Directed by Hector Babenco (Pixote, Carandiru, etc.) Features Niaruna Indians.