Rating: 
Summary: deeply moving....
Review: ....although, as the reviewer below noted, rather sparse in dialog. In places simple, moving statements would have helped clear up a rather mysterious but highly evocative film. The subtitles were not altogether accurate translations of the Castilian Spanish spoken by the actors, but they kept one fairly well apprised.After I watched it I got to wondering about who Cabeza de Vaca really was. The film portrays him as a conquistador-turned-healer. The church--which even now pushes to make Junipero Serra, religious conquerer of California, a saint, having learned nothing about the damage done by the colonizer mentality--considers him a great patron of Christianizing the heathen Natives. Some of the advocates of Native rights, voice, and history condemn him as a well-intentioned point man for the subsequent Spanish, and then Anglo, waves of conquest surging into Norteamerica. Whomever he was (and do e-mail me if you know much about him, because I'm curious), I like to think that the Seven Cities of Gold were metaphysical experiences not to be taken so literally. And that he was indeed transformed by the reversal of roles, he a slave and Natives as his employers, customers, and teachers.
Rating: 
Summary: Demanding, brilliant and not an easy one to watch.
Review: A disturbing, yet deeply moving film. It struck me as very like watching a cinematic outpouring of images from the collective unconscious, with all the beauty and horror and mystery we see in dreams -- and nightmares. A journey of transformation and pain, and an indictment of European imperialism, as well as the cruelty of the missionary zeal of the Catholic Church. I felt I was watching an average human being undergo loss of ordinary self, thus opening him to a wider and deeper experience of life. It is worth watching, and perhaps employing as a means of searching one's own moral position in regard to life and one's reflection in relation to other, and thus unfamiliar human experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorcerers and dwarfs in Mexico
Review: After watching this movie, I had to do some research on it. I had learned that this was a true story, but I didn't know anything about what it may be about or who the major players were. What I did discover was that this film was somewhat factually wrong. I hated to read that because this was a very powerful film. This was one of the only films that I have ever watched that used less "known" words, and more violence to carry the message. Perhaps violence isn't the best word, but this film was filled with violent images countered with images of faith and healing. Apparently when Vaca returned to Spain, he wrote some letters to the King describing what he had seen during the eight years on the uncharted land. This was the basis for this film, but according to most, this film left out too much, and took rights to other parts of Vaca's adventure. For example, although the long sequence early in the movie showing Cabeza de Vaca's period of slavery to the Indian sorcerer and the armless dwarf is quite interesting to see, there is no corresponding incident in the explorer's writings. Vaca did report on a brief period of enslavement, but that is all. No sorcerer, no dwarf (...damn...).
This film is a transitional movie. At first, we are to feel sorry for Vaca and what is happening to him. Watching the dwarf and sorcerer make fun of him and force him to do painful duties. We are made to feel sympathetic for this man that seemingly is loosing strength and mental power daily. Then, we hit the big moment. When Vaca becomes the healer and befriends the Indian, we feel less sympathetic, and for me, more confused. Did Vaca want to leave this place? Near the end, the answer becomes even more shaded. I would think that someone that feels so strongly about a community that he has spent eight years of his life with would do more than just go back and hope that his new "family" is not captured. Vaca, in this film, took the cheap route. The final scene is a very gripping moment in our history. Vaca is forced to help bring Christianity to this natives. To demolish their world and form of religion and bring in Western civilization. Vaca sees this and cries, but then STILL does nothing. He apparently has the power to bring people to life, but destroy a church is well out of his grasp.
The last scene is of enslaved Indians carrying a Christian cross across the desert. This represent the beginning of the end of most of the Indian's beliefs that have been them for thousands of years. The beginning of the corruption and the force to bring certain beliefs to everyone. Very sad ending.
Overall, a decent film that still carries a strong message even today. While the cinematography seems choppy at times, it is worth the wait to witness the human destruction near the end. I suggest this to anyone that needs a moment to see the path of "our" people.
Grade: *** out of *****
Rating: 
Summary: Another viewer from Mexico City disagrees
Review: BOOOOOring! Movie completely misses the boat, distorts history, fumbles one helluva great story, makes no sense, wastes patience and gets your ZZZs in no time. Forget it! P.S. The last scene is a tribute to Sinaloa's main illegal export!
Rating:
Summary: A Must See!
Review: Buy it, rent it, borrow it... but watch it. Any bad reviews come from small minds and I am amazed that this movie is not more recognized than it warrants. Absolutely outstanding movie!!!!
Rating:
Summary: A Must See!
Review: Buy it, rent it, borrow it... but watch it. Any bad reviews come from small minds and I am amazed that this movie is not more recognized than it warrants. Absolutely outstanding movie!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant art movie (in a terrible DVD rendering)
Review: Cabeza de Vaca is a Mexican movie about a conquistador who survives a shipwreck and ... well, no spoilers here...
Since "Cabeza de Vaca" is a multiple times awarded Mexican movie, any expectation of epic Hollywood-style action means that one didn't pay attention.
Looking at "Cabeza de Vaca"'s background, one can only expect expect an intellectual effort in a "foreign" style.
If you watch the movie on that premise, it clearly delivers:
"Cabeza de Vaca" may be compared to -
1) "The Mission" due to its narrative style, using pictures rather than words for large parts of the storytelling,
2) German director Werner Herzog's cinematic style, especially in "Fitzcarraldo", and
3) John Boorman's "Excalibur" for its' strange story with supernatural elements and glimpses of sudden violence.
All in all, "Cabeza de Vaca" is a highly recommendable "artistic movie".
The only possible point of criticism is the DVD rendering, which is nothing less than terrible. It's in 4:3 format with English texts that can not be turned off, and are placed almost in the middle of the picture - and the picture quality is not exactly a state of the art DVD rendering either. Shame on the publisher for making an edition of such a movie look like a DVD conversion of a cheaply made rental VHS.
I looked for this movie for several years... and I'll keep looking for a decent 16:9 version.
The five stars are for the movies' own qualities, but other customers should be warned that the rendition quality itself deserves a straight zero. A widescreen VHS would be better.
Rating:
Summary: Brutally Honest......
Review: Cabeza de Vaca is the name of one of the Spaniards shipwrecked of the coast of present day Florida. If you are willing to suspend your belief of present day technological capabilities, this film will blow your mind. This is not any schmollywood glossover picture, thank you! Realize that early 16th Century technology didn't offer much to shipwrecked sailors in hostile, unfamiliar jungleland. No cell phones, no mail service, no food, no contacts, no language dictionaries, nothing, nothing, nothing. This film captures perfectly the despair of the fallen sailors and especially the fall and subsequent rise of Cabeza de Vaca. I think after watching a movie like this you WILL look at the world much differently. The film director's dedication to complete honesty and immaculate cinematography make this one of the most thought provoking, haunting, and beautiful movie pictures ever made.
Rating:
Summary: Wonder filled movie
Review: Cabeza de Vaca, Spanish nobleman looking for riches and adventure, ends up with much more adventure than he planned for. A journey for gold turns into a harrowing spiritual journey, a twisting torture of his soul and beliefs. Face to face with barbarians, de Vaca must face his own nature and ultimately the barbaric nature of the Spanish Conquest. A beautifully shot movie - the melange of tribal cultures that de Vaca encountered on his wanderings is well portrayed, and as de Vaca goes from slave to shaman to the next meal back to holy man, etc., this viewer was caught up in de Vaca's spiritual journey - how survival and spirituality spring from the same place for many of us. Juan Diego masterfully portrays de Vaca's spiritual trials and tribulations - a man adapting to what he had to adapt to to survive, almost losing himself in the process, reborn almost unrecognizable to himself. This movie reminds us that culture clashes are really clashes of souls, an always timely message.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and Entertaining
Review: Complaints about how this film departs from the original memoir are unfair for two reasons:
1) In order for any historical film to stand on its own, it needs to mess with the original and find its own truth and shape. Film is art, not history. The question is: does this film entertain and fascinate us? It does!
2) Cabeza de Vaca's memoir is full of gaps--he doesn't go into detail about alot of the things he experienced and how he survived. For example, in the span of one chapter (a few pages in his memoir), he tells us that several years have gone by. Thus, the film makers had some flexibility with regards to being creative. In fact, Cabeza de Vaca states in his preface to the king that he is intentionally leaving things out for the purpose of brevity. Also, there was another reason not to spill all the beans-- in light of the Inquisition, there might have been experiences he left out on purpose.
This is one of the finest films about the Conquest of the New World ever made. Don't miss it. If you enjoy it, read the original story.
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