Deep within the jungle, a person can lose themselves, both physically and mentally. There are countless tales of people being driven mad, isolated from society, consumed by the greenery blocking the sun and the potential danger lurking behind every colossal tree, and the swiftest exit a raging river that offers little chance of arriving at their destination.
These journeys into the jungle and psyche have long captivated, from Joseph Conrad’s 1899 literary masterpiece Heart Of Darkness, to the iconic images of a shadow-lurking Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now and Klaus Kinski’s bug-eyed glare in his collaborations with director . The latest film to wade into those raging rapids is Colombian film Monos, a film heralded with the , “Apocalypse Now on shrooms”.
Directed by Colombian-Ecuadorian Alejandro Landes, Monos takes place in the wilds of Colombia – filmed in the mountains of the Chingaza Natural National Park and in the jungles by the Samaná Norte River. While most films depict obsessive colonisers venturing into alien territory for something valuable (be it or ), Monos radically differs through its main characters: a troupe of child soldiers.
The child soldiers are referred to as Monos, meaning ‘monkey’ in Spanish and ‘alone’ in Greek. The monos range from as young as 12 years old to 18, adopting new names for themselves such as Wolf, Boom Boom and Rambo. The group fight for the mysterious entity The Organisation, receiving orders during visits from The Messenger (Wilson Salazar). Their current mission is to guard their American hostage (Julianne Nicholson, most recently seen in Mare Of Easttown), who is being ransomed by The Organisation.
Almost no information is offered: The Organisation’s motives; the original names of the child soldiers or the circumstances leading to their joining The Organisation; not even what period of the 60-year-long Colombian ‘’ the film is set in (a war that only ended in 2016, although things are still in the country) – even the clouds above their mountain base seem unstuck in time, as captured by cinematographer Jasper Wolf. However, despite the military exercises and the guns they brandish, director Landes reminds viewers that they’re still just kids.
By the light of bonfire, the monos throw parties filled with drinking, bickering and hormonal urges. They find magic mushrooms growing from the dung of a cow gifted to them by The Messenger, eating them without a second thought (a scene enhanced by Mica Levi’s tone-shifting score). While preparing to shoot a ransom video, the female monos innocently braid the hostage’s hair. Once they move locations to the jungle, the group goes rogue, and a descent into savagery ensues.
The most obvious precursor to Monos is William Golding’s Lord Of The Flies, the classic story of schoolboys marooned upon an island, fending for themselves while succumbing to their barbarism. Landes makes that influence apparent when one monos is tied to a tree by the rest of the group, watched by the dead eyes of a pig’s head on a stick. “It’s like a pop image, like Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup,” Landes told . He adds that the reference’s inclusion in the film was “born out of a real thing, what certain chiefs in guerrilla groups in Colombia do”.
Landes’ claim may seem far-fetched, but he has proven himself a meticulous researcher. The filmmaker’s first film was the 2007 documentary feature Cocalero, following the campaign trail of Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Evo Morales. On his follow-up, 2011’s Porfirio, Landes combined documentary and fiction in the story of a man left paralysed by police, experiencing discrimination to the point he explodes and commits a shocking act. For this debut feature, Landes cast Porfirio Ramirez, the real-life inspiration for the film.
It was while from the Ministry of Justice to cast Porfirio that Landes encountered a reinsertion program for children who had abandoned the guerrillas, including Wilson Salazar. Salazar joined the guerrillas when he was 11 years old and deserted the group at 24. He provided Landes with a lot of information for the film, eventually being hired first as a consultant to train the young cast of mostly unprofessional actors (Bigfoot is played by Moisés Arias of Hannah Montana fame), then cast as the mysterious Messenger.
Monos’ basis in reality adds tension to the dreamlike cinematography and lush locations, providing chaos within the beauty of nature that fans of this genre crave. The appeal is best by author Ned Beauman, whose novel Madness Is Better Than Defeat was inspired by the chaotic productions of Apocalypse Now and Fitzcarraldo (Herzog's 1982 drama, ). “There’s something extremely seductive about madness, about the possibility of abandoning all civilisational structures and common sense and plunging into something much darker and more turbid,” he says. “And for a lot of people, the jungle seems like the perfect place to do that because it’s a long way away and nobody’s watching.”
Monos is now streaming at SBS On Demand.
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