Films › Cinematography
Embrace of the Serpent
Directed by Ciro Guerra, 2015
Ciro Guerra and DP David Gallego shot Embrace of the Serpent on 35mm in black and white, a choice that removes the postcard-green expectation attached to Amazon rainforest footage and forces composition to rely on contrast and texture instead of color to separate foreground from jungle depth. Gallego used available and firelight sources almost throughout, with night scenes lit by torches and lanterns visible in frame, keeping the light motivated by the world the characters inhabit rather than an outside crew presence. The film cuts between two timelines decades apart, and the visual continuity of black and white photography across both periods argues that the land's condition, not costume or color cues, should carry the sense of historical change, which shows up instead through deforestation and altered riverbanks within the frame. Camera movement stays largely restrained, favoring boats and rivers as the source of motion rather than crane or dolly work, so the environment itself supplies dynamism.
What to watch for
Compare how the two timelines use the same black and white palette to make environmental change, not costume, signal the passage of decades.
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