Sahara: spellbinding for all the wrong reasons
There is something that I think people need to know before sitting down to watch the Netflix Original, Sahara. Despite the angles of its advertising, Sahara is not a kid’s film, nor should it be treated as a kid’s film.
On the surface, Sahara is an anthropomorphic reimagining of the Romeo and Juliet narrative. There are two factions of snakes who despise one another, a boy from one meets a girl from the other, and suddenly the plot is propelled forward as tragedy befalls the pair. All in all, the conflict between the Green Snakes and the Dusties isn’t really acted upon, it is mentioned in the passing and the discrimination mainly comes from the Green Snakes with regards to their perceptions of the Dusties. At no point is it explained why the snakes act this way, nor do we get any examples of why they choose to think this way. The only prejudice that holds any weight comes from the Dusties as they believe the Green Snakes to be better than them because they live in the Oasis rather than the canyons and desert. However, the fact that so little time is spent on this does work for the film as that was not the focus of the narrative. That comes after the Dustie, Ajar (voiced by Robert Naylor), and the Green Snake, Eva (voiced by Angela Galuppo), have met and Eva is suddenly whisked away by a snake charmer. This is where the deviation from the Romeo and Juliet narrative takes place as the rest of the film is split between Eva’s experiences in the snake charmer’s troupe and Ajar’s journey to rescue her.
Now I’ll admit there is nothing special about Ajar’s journey. It is a traditional adaptation of the quest narrative – they make their way across the desert, obstacles divert them from their path, and they overcome each one to eventually rescue the damsel. But one of the main themes in this film is obsession and that theme is personified in every major character that appears. For Ajar, his obsession is with a girl he just met, but for his companion, Eva’s brother Gary, voiced by Mark Hauser, his obsession is pollen. Pollen in this film is a stand-in for drugs, specifically cocaine, as we watch Gary suffer from withdrawal symptoms in the desert and snort lines of sand in an attempt to satiate his craving. He is the stereotypical stoner character with his accent and dialogue representing this as much as his character traits. It is not very subtle, though arguably excusable if he was a character intended for the adult audience rather than for a younger audience.
However, what is not excusable and why I really think Sahara shouldn’t be advertised as a family-friendly film is the obsession that was given to Eva’s character. Whilst it is never explicitly stated, it can be assumed that Eva’s obsession is with sex. She joins the troupe with the intention of escaping, but when she gets her chance, she is instead made a slave to the music of the snake charmer and forced to perform as part of the act. For this, the animation style changes and the sense of euphoria she is experiencing is highlighted in the model’s facial expressions and even in the symbology of her hallucinations. Her true love, or innocent love, Ajar disappears into dust and is instead replaced with the lustful character of George, another snake voiced by Andrew Shaver, who tempts her with apples from the biblical tree. Similarly, there is a scene in this sequence where copies of Eva swim forward into a ball of light and are transformed into a gorgonian version of the snake charmer. It is hypnotic as much as it is bizarre, with Eva’s conflictions between the pleasurable sensations and her desires for freedom one of the more compelling parts of the film. In the narrative, the experience is referred to as her ‘first time’ and from then on, as her chances of escape dwindle, she is reminded that this life isn’t all bad and that she’ll get used to it. Whilst captivating, her narrative is unnerving and uncomfortable, mimicking the conditioning that can occur when a situation seems inescapable. Unlike her brother whose obsession and addiction are included for comedic effect, Eva’s feels like there is truth and weight behind it. But at the same time, its inclusion is rather inappropriate when the film is being marketed as a family-friendly adventure.
Nevertheless, despite my interest in the portrayal of this film’s themes, there are some issues that let it down.
Firstly, the animation is competent in places. The character designs are fun and creative, but whilst the models are well designed and animated at times the movement is staggered and unnatural. There is a dance-off between Eva and another snake where their movements suddenly become a lot less fluid as the two models start to breakdance. It’s very out of place as they become jagged and sharp, bending in ways that delve into the unimaginable when it comes to the limitations of a snake’s body. It’s quite jarring considering that there are some beautiful movements in the dances prior that better encompass the abilities of real snakes. Similarly in the climax, the snake charmer becomes much more animalistic as he chased Ajar, even going as far as contorting his form to scuttle on all fours as the two scale the rooftops. I will admit, it was creepy and that was clearly the intention, but the sudden change came out of nowhere and that just didn’t work for me.
Likewise, the pacing, for me, was off. It was heavily affected by the constant changes in perspective as well as poor dialogue. Now the scene changes themselves were well done, there were some very nice transitions in the film that didn’t take away from the narrative. My complaint instead comes with how many there were for such a short film. It took me out of the film as it felt like I was being tossed around, jumping between the adventure and the politics of the troupe. I only got snips of each narrative and never really felt like I understood the characters fully.
The dialogue also did this, missing its mark and taking me out of the experience. This was a big issue with the character of Gary. As in keeping with his stereotypes, he spoke in a slow monotonous tone, never really cared about anything, and would randomly make pop culture references that were completely separate from the tone and focus of the film. Where the dialogue was done better was with the snakes of the troupe, capturing their different personalities and the different ways that they cope with the compulsions they have as being a part of it. But even then, with regards to the writing, a lot was to be desired as many of the interactions felt forced and flat.
Despite all of this, the themes and the flaws, is Sahara worth a watch?
I would say yes, if only for the experience. It is an experimental film with an interesting style that lets you waste a couple of hours until you can find that next big thing to watch. It’s spellbinding for all the wrong reasons, but just make sure the kids give it a miss.
