Chile, 1893. The end of the world. Land owner José Menéndez has some issues about his property rights and would just like to have them sorted. He entrusts this basic, administrative function to a mixed-race native, a furious looking and sounding Brit, and an American mercenary. They undertake this simple order with varying degrees of enthusiasm and gusto because in simple, administrative terms, their job is to remove any obstacles to Don Menéndez’s plans. And if those obstacles are often people then so be it. The Settlers is a bleak, remorseless film, made all the worse by being broadly factually accurate. It is also brilliant and original. I hated every minute, loved it all, and would recommend it for every award going whilst ensuring I never spend a second in its company again. You want a film that gets under your skin – The Settlers (Los Colonos) is for you.
This is the debut feature from Felipe Gálvez Haberle who has previous prize-winning experience in short films. His ability to create a world that is both brutal and tender is remarkable. As is his use of colour and the way in which he integrates the frequent, bloody and unforgiving violence into the rhythms of the place. This vast empty world of Tierra del Fuego is both empty and void, but also completely understandable as the ancestral home of the unnamed (but assumed to be Selk’nam) people. For a film populated with many, many bad guys, and a scarce handful of anyone with any good, it is also a surprisingly complex film in that even the most corrupted people are given fleeting moments where they understand their corruption and must either give in to it or stand up to it. No prizes for guessing how that often turns out.
The performances, especially from Mark Stanley as the furious Scotsman Alexander MacLennan (he really existed and really earned his nickname of ‘The Red Pig’), are extraordinary. It’s one thing to be a violent psychopath – another to be one whose actions you can’t avoid following. In the final moments, Mishell Guaña’s Kiepja, adds a layer of final ambiguity to reshape your understanding of what you’ve just seen. And in between the small-ish ensemble don’t leave anything behind in getting in to their roles. Filming must have been intense. A word of note for the soundscape as well. The soundtrack builds up the unease without every getting in the way, and the ripples of water are as important as the ringing out of gunfire.
According to the film aggregate sites, The Settlers has met with close to universal acclaim. That is true but it’s really not a film for everyone, however it might be sold as a modern take on the Western. The story deserves to be known about, though, so if all that anyone does after reading a review is find out about the extermination of the native peoples of Tierra del Fuego, and the attempts at reestablishing cultures thought lost that are taking place now, then that’s sort of a win. And, in the world of The Settlers, that kind of empty, pyrrhic victory, is the only kind you get. Even when you’re the one holding the gun.
Jon's Place 