Love, Death + Robots : Jibaro !

Jibaro, One of the episodes from Love, Death + Robots that effectively leaves you gasping at its aesthetic beauty, its imagery & the brutal tale held within.

The Story of Jibaro 

Jibaro is about a group of Spanish conquistadores (most likely) travelling through a thick forest. Their accessories and demeanor suggests warriors who plunder the land they conquer. They are lead by a deaf Knight. The platoon of soldiers are met in the middle of the jungle by group of people serving “God” & who have come to enlighten the heathens!

The army opts to camp by the river. The deaf knight wanders towards the river where he spies a gold nugget. he immediately grabs it, alerting the siren living in that river. She stalks the group, observing them carefully. Perhaps their actions trigger defense mechanism. The Siren appears clad in riches, gold, gems and precious stones of her land and sings the song of her clan. Her “song” sends the soldiers & holy men into wild delirium that stops only when they have butchered or killed themselves.

The only one standing alive is the deaf knight who by virtue of his deafness has not heard the call of Siren. The Siren is intrigued by this creature that has remained inured to her song. Needless to say, she is smitten by this man. As night falls, She creeps close to him to have a closer look.

Morning brings light and the two take a close look at each other. The deaf knight lights up as he sees Siren up close . Jolted out of her reverie, the siren sprints towards her safety zone – the waters!! undeterred , the knight gives a chase and finally manages to catch her.

A dangerous dance of love between the Knight & Siren followed by the Knight robbing the siren of all her wealth & tossing her aside (killing her ) , the knight walks away nonchalantly carrying the hoard.

But water is Siren’s ELEMENT! The blood that gushed out from Siren’s body flows through the water, gathering strength as it rejuvenates her and at the same time seeking the knight. The blood heals her & at the same time the Knight touches the blood tainted water !

On one side, Siren wakes up slowly becoming aware of the state of her being, of being stripped of her stones, gold, gems and on the other side the knight’s hearing is restored, which sets him in panic mode.

With  hearing active, he is at the mercy of Siren. The vengeful Siren seeks him out and lets out a wail of betrayal. The Knight now no more deaf , cannot avoid her allure. As he fights desperately for his life, he is slowly, inexorably lead to his death !

Alberto Mielgo, the writer and director of ‘Jibaro’ has flawlessly blended the Greek myth of Sirens with history of South America, the land that was plundered, raped & looted by Spainish & Portuguese.

The relationship of Siren & the Knight is not just a tale of toxic love but also reflects on human nature and Nature. This was a relationship that was not meant to be, the enamored Siren was betraying her duty, which was to safeguard her land. The Knight was smitten not by the Siren but by the wealth that Siren possessed. He loved her jewels, her gold plated body but not her.

He looted her to the point of death & walked away in search of more treasure, discarding the body callously. But Nature cannot die, can it? You clean an area, destroying the flora & fauna, build a city, live there for centuries and walk away from it one day.. what happens, within 50 years , nature, that destroyed nature slowly rebuilds itself, reclaiming the stolen lands and owning it again.

Nature can lose now and again but it cannot be defeated & when nature strikes back, the effect is brutal & terrible. When Siren awakens , she realizes her loss & a tormented wail bursts forth from her lips. The effect such that, the Knight is drawn helplessly towards the siren, towards his death – his sword is of no help, his sharp blades aren’t effective, his armour cannot stop the brunt of Siren’s wrath.

He is pulled towards her, his desperate struggle to live , his frenzied dance of life proving futile in front of her rage. The agonized scream stops only after he breathes his last, only after Siren reclaims her heritage! But has she truly reclaimed her heritage?

For despite being healed , The siren has lost her treasures. Her skirmish with ‘love’ has deprived her of her dance . Now all she can do in her weakened state is to sing, sing the song of death.

** An absorbing & intriguing tale of “love” that operates on many levels. Be it from the angle of forbidden love that’s doomed to disaster or the love between inequals that never end well especially when you are coming from two different ethos.

Or take it to macro level. The love affair of Human & nature, a nature that has vast trove of treasures hidden in her bosom, of man’s unparalleled greed to grab everything that nature has in her bounty. A nature that will strike back, instinctively, effectively when human kind crosses the invisible line between need & greed.

This is a story that can be watched again & again..