"Transamazonia" in cinemas | The Aspirin Lady

The story of Juliane Koepcke, who survived a plane crash in the Peruvian rainforest on December 24, 1971, at the age of 17, and struggled through the jungle for ten days until she was rescued, has fascinated many people. Werner Herzog, who tried in vain to secure a seat on the same ill-fated flight at the time, understandably also remained deeply moved by this incredible event. While Juliane fought for her survival in the jungle, he was shooting his adventure film "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" with Klaus Kinski a few rivers away. In 1998, he finally made the worthwhile documentary "Wings of Hope," which can be viewed on YouTube. For this film, he returned to the crash site with the German-Peruvian biologist Koepcke.

South African-born, Berlin-based director Pia Marais was also inspired by this young woman, who survived a fall of three kilometers almost unscathed, for her film "Transamazonia." However, she weaves a completely different story from the incredible event: Her Juliane is called Rebecca and is played by Helena Zengel, who caused a sensation in 2019 as a ten-year-old with her portrayal of a traumatized girl who falls through the cracks of child and youth welfare. Following her international success, she starred with Tom Hanks in the US western "News of the World" and can currently be seen in the fantasy film "The Legend of Ochi."

In "Transamazonia," a native of the fictional Iruaté tribe rescues the six-year-old girl, covered in mud and blood, and carries her through the Brazilian jungle for days. Later, the distraught Rebecca is picked up from the hospital by her father, Lawrence (Jeremy Xido), a Christian evangelical missionary.

Nine years later, Lawrence markets Rebecca—now played by Zengel—to his congregation as a faith healer. The believers, whipped up during the services, call her the "Aspirin Lady." Stoic and silent, the blonde angel strives to perform miracles, actually even convincing a woman in a wheelchair to simply stand up. In such moments, she seems like the traumatized young woman from the horror classic "Carrie." But she never develops any diabolical telekinetic powers until the very end. On the contrary, Marais deliberately leaves it open whether Rebecca has an extraordinary gift, and even she herself seems unsure.

The film's atmosphere is convincing; Mathieu de Montgrand's hypnotic camerawork draws the viewer deep into the Brazilian jungle, but the exaggeratedly threatening score catapults you back into your boring cinema seat at times.

Unfortunately, the script by Marais, Willem Droste, and Martin Rosefeldt can't keep up with the visuals. The further the film progresses, the more one wonders what story it's actually trying to tell. A story of female self-discovery under unusual circumstances? A difficult father-daughter relationship, one that's also based on an outrageous lie? Should it be about ill-fated missionary work that reaches even the most remote areas, or about environmentally destructive capitalism? Marais becomes increasingly lost in the jungle of her own demands.

Reckless workers are clearing the rainforest near their mission station, endangering their livelihoods. Rebecca takes the side of her indigenous teenage friends, who once provoke her by asking if she always does what her father says. His father, however, is begging his child prodigy Rebecca to heal the logging company owner's wife, who has fallen into a kind of coma. Her husband promises that he will withdraw his logging workers from the area if she succeeds. Rebecca seems to be caught between all fronts, while the conflict between the indigenous people and the loggers escalates. But that's not enough, she is also jealous of a nurse who is staying with them for a short time. This nurse also sows doubts about Rebecca's true origins.

At the last minute, Marais halfheartedly attempts to tie all these plot threads together, but she doesn't succeed, and it's not particularly interesting, since up to that point, neither Rebecca's inner life nor that of her father nor that of the natives has been particularly explored. Even Helene Zengel, who bravely makes her way through the plot jungle, can't compete with that.

Even if one suspects that Marais intended to critically examine the "white savior" complex—particularly evident in a scene in which the logging boss Lawrence explains that he was concerned about the timber and money of the indigenous people, while Lawrence was clearly concerned about their souls—the indecisive melodrama also fails in this effort. The attempt at a critical examination of this topic is lost in narrative uncertainty.

"Transamazonia": Germany, Brazil, France, Switzerland, Taiwan, 2024. Directed by Pia Marais. Written by Pia Marais, Willem Droste, Martin Rosefeldt. Starring: Helena Zengel, Jeremy Xido, Sérgio Sartorio. 115 minutes. Theatrical release: May 15.