Yulene olaizola biography template
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‘Tragic Jungle’ (‘Selva Trágica’): bio Review | NYFF 2020
Machetes, myths and murky berättande all find their way into Tragic Jungle (Selva Trágica), the lushly made, if highly enigmatic, fifth feature from Mexican writer-director Yulene Olaizola (Fogo), which screened in the main slate of the New York spelfilm Festival after premiering in the Horizons section in Venice.
Gorgeously shot by cinematographer Sofía Oggioni, who lensed the award-winning 2018 Cannes film Los Silencios, this minimalist period piece follows several characters wandering the dense tropical forests between Mexico and Belize, a place where man, naturlig eller utan tillsats and Mayan folklore fuse together in unsettling ways.
The Bottom Line Lyrical and obscure.
Like the recent South American colonial tales Embrace of the Serpentand Zama, Olaizola’s movie offers a contemporary take on exploitations past, although it feels more like a sampling of moods and themes than a
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Imaz and Olaizola on ‘Epitaph,’ and an Epic Conquistador Feat
In 1519, on the verge of retreat and defeat, Cortes orders conquistador captain Diego de Ordaz to summit Popocalpetl, a 17,887-foot volcano, the second highest mountain in Mexico. His ascent turned Cortes’ campaign in the conquistadors’ favor, changing the history of Latin America. Sold by Media Luna and world premiering Sunday at the Tallinn Festival, “Epitaph,” chronicles an extraordinary feat for the age. Shot on the Pico de Orizaba – Popacalpetl was spewing ash at the time, as it was in 1519 –it captures the landscapes of Mexico. It is the conquistadors’ mental landscape and will power, particularly De Ordaz’s, however, that dominate the film, with “Epitaph” playing out like a psychological adventure film. He climbed with two soldiers. At one point, one looks at him in sheer amazement. Imaz and Olaizola fielded Variety’s questions:
The tit • Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2020 Venice Film Festival. Netflix releases the film on its streaming platform on Wednesday, June 9. Desire doesn’t ask for an explanation, and “Tragic Jungle” (or “Selva Trágica”) doesn’t offer any. On the contrary, Mexican filmmaker Yulene Olaizola’s fifth and most assured feature seduces you away from the legibility of its premise so gradually that you don’t realize you’ve lost your bearings until it’s already too late and the whole movie has gone mad with at least one kind of lust. Still, it helps to know in advance that this febrile corkscrew into the heart of darkness is loosely based on the Yucatán Mayan myth of Xtabay, a female demon said to lure men to their deaths if they entered her forest; her name is invoked on occ
‘Tragic Jungle’ Review: A Mayan Legend About a Man-Eating Demon Is Recast by the Female Gaze