Review by Billy Newbery
Going into Magellan from Lav Diaz, I had a feeling of cautiousness that stayed well into its runtime. As the film’s overwhelmingly well-crafted yet cold images unfolded, I found myself confused by the lack of character exploration, of a clear story, or even context. Scenes were playing out in a distant tone unlike anything I’ve seen. Leaving me feeling cold, frustrated, tense, waiting for something, anything to finally happen.
Then, well over an hour in when Ferdinand Magellan boards his ship to sail across the world, I finally realised that the film had me right where it wanted me. This film is unlike any film that I have seen, which has attempted to cover such violent topics as war or, in this case, colonialism.
It doesn’t want to explore the legend or the man that was Magellan. Instead, it simply shows you who he is by his actions and allows the viewer to sit and stew in an ocean of negative emotions without ever giving you a way out. To give the viewer a release would require humanising Magellan, or revelling in the violence, or in some small way turning away from the issue at hand for the sake of the viewer. Something which this film is simply unwilling to do. Not even for a moment, allowing this story to have glory. Instead, we are forced to truly look at what colonialism looks like. How insidious it is, how awful and small those who enacted it are, and most of all, the emotional horror that a human can cause other people.
Forgoing the safety of normal filmmaking conventions. Stripping away any place for the viewer to hide. Leaving the audience in a no man’s land, having to either shrug off the feelings and thus the film, which is easy to do when faced with such an alien way of filmmaking. Or lean into what it is doing, willingly experiencing the pain and frustration.
If you lean in, you’ll find an overwhelming film, unique in its presentation and truly masterful in every sense of the word.
Magellan
Sydney Film Festival