A journey through the Amazon: The enigmatic tale of ‘Transamazonia’
A miraculous survival
Rebecca Byrne, the teenage protagonist of Transamazonia, carries an ethereal presence that seems almost otherworldly. Her story begins with a plane crash in the remote Amazon basin, where she emerged as the sole survivor. Dubbed a miracle child by the media, Rebecca chose to remain in the rainforest, carving out a life as a Christian faith healer. Helena Zengel’s captivating performance leaves us questioning whether Rebecca’s miracles are genuine or merely a part of her mystique. This central enigma fuels the many layers of Pia Marais’s intriguing environmental fable, where religious mission work and industrial deforestation threaten Indigenous identity.
Watch the trailer for Transamazonia
A film with a global perspective
Premiering in Locarno’s main competition and set to feature at the New York Film Festival, Transamazonia is a robust and thought-provoking fourth feature from South African-born writer-director Pia Marais. Her previous work, Layla Fourie, was set in her homeland, but Marais’s career has been marked by a distinctly international outlook. Transamazonia delves into postcolonial themes of belonging and displacement, avoiding the exoticization of Brazil’s lesser-known regions. The film collaborates with the Assurini people of the Trocará Indigenous Territory, who are credited as associate producers. Despite its ambitious and conscientious approach, the film’s characterizations sometimes lack depth, making it challenging to form an emotional connection, even as it keeps us engaged.
The mission in the jungle
Rebecca isn’t alone in her Amazonian sanctuary. Her American missionary father, Lawrence (Jeremy Xido), retrieved her after the crash and saw the tragedy as a spiritual calling. He established a mission in an abandoned Baptist camp in the jungle, turning Rebecca into the star of his evangelical sermons. Indigenous locals, believing in her healing powers, attend these sermons, which are bathed in lurid turquoise light, adding a sense of spectacle to Lawrence’s preaching.
Rebecca, a solemn and stoic figure, doesn’t seem to be knowingly deceitful, but she isn’t entirely sure of her gifts either. Zengel, known for her roles in System Crasher and News of the World, convincingly portrays a young woman still grappling with trauma and uncertainty. Nine years after the accident, Rebecca knows little about her mother or her family’s past. However, her world begins to expand through friendships with other Indigenous teens, prompting her to reexamine her own story.
A tense local conflict
Rebecca’s supposed magic becomes a focal point when Alves (Rômulo Braga), the head of a logging company involved in illegal deforestation, seeks her help for his comatose wife. This request thrusts the mission into a local conflict between the loggers and the Indigenous tribes whose land is under threat. Alves promises to back down if Rebecca can cure his wife, highlighting the Byrnes’ precarious position in a community that views them as both outsiders and allies. This situation raises questions about whether the mission serves or exploits the Byrnes, providing them with a semblance of spiritual solace.
A neo-western in the Amazon
Transamazonia functions as a neo-western, with the dense, teeming forest—captured in saturated greens by cinematographer Mathieu de Montgrand—standing in for the desert as the lawless terrain of the genre. The film explores the conflict between those who belong to the land and those who believe everything belongs to them. The Church’s role in this standoff is ambiguous, with Marais’s script, co-written with Willem Drost and Martin Rosefeldt, maintaining a cool distance as the three incompatible factions circle each other. While the deforesters are clear-cut antagonists, the film remains guarded in its sympathies, portraying Indigenous characters with respect but not intimacy.
An atmospheric experience
As an atmospheric exercise, Transamazonia is tactile and seductive, rich with the sounds and sensations of the rainforest. It evokes an environment worth defending for those born into it and helps us understand how others can lose themselves in it, abandoning both geographical and moral compasses. For Lawrence, the Amazon offered a chance to reinvent himself; for Rebecca, escaping it might be her path to rebirth.
Watch the trailer for Transamazonia
Transamazonia is a film that invites viewers to ponder the complexities of faith, identity, and environmental stewardship. It challenges us to consider the impact of our actions on the world around us and the delicate balance between tradition and progress. Whether you’re a cinema enthusiast, a TV series aficionado, or a music lover, this film offers a rich tapestry of themes and emotions to explore.