Lucrecia Martel's 'Zama' is a feverishly brilliant tale of European colonialism and its discontents

Early on in Lucrecia Martel's "Zama," in a Spanish-held South American colony during the late 18th century, a crown official named Don Diego de Zama (Daniel Gimenez Cacho) tries in vain to seduce a married noblewoman, Luciana (Lola Duenas). There's probably a metaphor to be gleaned from this failed attempt at conquest, but Martel is more interested in drawing our eyes and ears to the other person in the room: a servant (Tendjyb Manigat), an indigenous black man, fanning them in the background.

Few filmmakers use sound as pointedly and evocatively as Martel does, and even when she cuts to a closeup of Zama and Luciana, the steady, distracting creak of the fan persists. The noise makes