Cabeza de Vaca (1991)

Directed by

Nicolás Echevarría

Genre

action film, biographical film

Country

Mexico

Runtime

1h 52m

Rated

R

Rating

6.8 of 10 from 37 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A Spanish explorer survives a shipwreck and becomes one of four men left from his expedition. He lives among Native American tribes, learning their ways and acting as a healer to stay alive.

grimintrospectiveslowunsettlinggroundedceremonialsurvivalistbleak

What happens

Cabeza de Vaca is a 1991 Mexican film directed by Nicolás Echevarría and starring Juan Diego about the adventures of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (c. 1490 – c. 1557), an early Spanish explorer, as he traversed what later became the American South. Cabeza de Vaca was one of four survivors of the Narváez expedition and shipwreck. He became known as a shaman among the Native American tribes he encountered, which helped him survive. His journey of a number of years began in 1528. After his return to Spain, he published his journal in 1542. The screenplay by Guillermo Sheridan and Nicolás Echevarría is based on Cabeza de Vaca's journal Naufragios y comentarios ("Shipwrecks and Commentaries"). The film was entered into the 41st Berlin International Film Festival. The film was selected as the Mexican entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 63rd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. A DVD version was released in 2012. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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