Voices of the Andes
Stéphane Pachot
Open iTunes to preview, buy, and download this movie.
Plot Summary
Qhapaq Nan, known as the Great Inca Road, is an ancient network of roads spanning more than 8,000 miles, running through the heart of the Andes, from the ocean and deserts all the way to Machu Picchu. Constructed hundreds of years ago during the Inca Empire, this vast transportation network still weaves its way through modern-day Peru and Ecuador. An astonishing feat of engineering, it connected Inca cities, administrative centers, agricultural and mining areas as well as ceremonial centers and sacred spaces. More so than other remnants of the Inca civilization, the Qhapaq Nan is a symbol of a common identity that nourishes the dreams of Andean people to this day and is central to reviving their unique cultural inheritance following centuries of European domination. As this visually striking documentary takes us along the Great Inca Road - revealing its contours, its history, and its secrets - we witness a different image of the Andes and its people.
Customer Reviews
Good to sleep to
So disapointing. Even the scenery was limited.
Very Reflective of Real Life
I first stumbled across this film on Netflix, and I think it is a very good depiction of the way life really is in the rural Peruvian Andes in this time. In a soft-spoken sort of way, the film on the one hand gives a view of the impact of the oppression that came to the Inca with the Spanish Conquistadors, the impact of which remains for various reasons shown in the movie. On the other hand, the creeping influence and allure of modern society is gradually demolishing much of what remains of the original Inca. Machu Pichu is on the cover, but the film stands in sharp contrast to the former glories.
After making a trip to Peru in 2010, I was immediately taken back to the people and places I had opportunity to meet and visit with in their homes. The rural setting, the adobe houses with their rooftop "amulets," the dust, the drunken man walking the street, guinea pigs in the house, the vast almost nothingness of the high altiplano, and the human loneliness and hopelessness at points, etc., struck me as genuine. This film shows the way life really is there -- not just through the scenery that's depicted but through several interviews with real people. It shows something about their history and culture, their pain, and their hopes. Far from a sleeper, I was captivated, and transported back to my own trip to the backroads of Peru. This is a film I intend to share with others who I know will be traveling to that area beyond the glitz and glamour of the big city.
Viewers Also Bought
- The Matador
- Nina Gilden Seavey & Stephen Higgins
- View In iTunes
- They Call It Myanmar: Lifting the Curtain
- Robert H. Lieberman
- View In iTunes
- Looking for Fidel (2003)
- Oliver Stone
- View In iTunes
- Beijing Taxi
- Miao Wang
- View In iTunes