Zama

Based on the titular 1956 novel by Antonio di Benedetto, this offbeat period piece—set during the height of Spain’s imperial powers in the 18th century—centers on Diego de Zama (Daniel Giménez Cacho), an amoral functionary for the Crown and former war hero who is now serving in an unrewarding administrative capacity for his government in the colonial wilds of South America near what is now Paraguay. Zama has become an outmoded cog caught up in the malfunctioning machinery of the Spanish Empire. Although he has no particular belief in anything other than a hope to return to his family in Buenos Aires one day, he still must help to subdue and control the local indigenous tribes who refuse to recognize Spanish dominance. Renowned director Lucrecia Martel’s Zama exudes a seedy elegance, as the claustrophobic environs of de Zama’s post creates a quiet maelstrom of tense, unrequited sexual desire and creepy fetishism (de Zama is, among other things, a known voyeur who enjoys stealing peeks at unclothed native women). And Zama delivers a twisted sort of Aguirre, the Wrath of God fatalism in how it slowly grooms its protagonist for a final comeuppance that seems wholly appropriate but not necessarily predictable. Highly recommended. (M. Sandlin)