Some literary works are so powerful that they keep echoing centuries after they first became public. That’s the case with Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, a novella that helped define the Western view on colonization and which inspired dozens of other works of art. Snake Gas (Hadí plyn) is the latest movie inspired by Heart of Darkness, using Conrad’s provocative story to investigate racism, sexism, and immigration in Europe. Unfortunately, director David Jařab fails to capture the same enthralling energy of Conrad’s original story, resulting in an experimental film that too often misses the mark.

At the dusk of the 19th century, Conrad published Heart of Darkness, one of the most important works of fiction ever. The story follows a steamboat captain who must venture into an African rainforest to rescue a trading post agent. During the journey, the captain is confronted with questions of power and morality, while also realizing there’s little difference between the so-called civilized men and the native people of the land. Due to its unfliching exploration of human nature, Heart of Darkness became a work that has endured for a reason.

Drawing from this, Snake Gas transforms Eastern Europe into a wilderness that a man of the Occident must brave. The story follows Robert Klein (Stanislav Majer) as he searches for his brother who vanished after a mysterious work mission in a natural reserve in the Balkans. Robert hasn’t spoken with his brother in years but still decides to make a dangerous trip through swamplands and dirt roads in the hopes of finding out what happened with the missing man. Just like in Conrad’s novel, on his way Robert will be confronted with fundamental questions about human nature and our relationship with the world around us.

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‘Snake Gas’ Is a Lackluster Reinvention of Joseph Conrad
Image via Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

It’s impossible to watch Snake Gas and not think about Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, which masterfully used Conrad’s novella to discuss American Imperialism during the Vietnam War. Like Coppola before him, Jařab reuses the structure of Conrad’s story to explore a different kind of conflict between “civilized” people and natives, this time questioning the prejudices of Western Europe about the East. In addition, the film also wants to explore the complexities of the mass immigration of African people who are often treated as second-class citizens and refused basic rights. It’s a commendable goal and the perfect reason to reinvent Conrad. Sadly, Snake Gas puts style above substance and delivers a story that’s not particularly engaging.

Snake Gas does have a rich subtext, with a protagonist who’s far from being a hero and often mirrors the violent patriarchal stance of the Occidental world. The movie also tries to tackle the invasive presence of international companies in the territory, the predatory behavior of humans towards natural resources, and the failure of government institutions to protect nature reserves. There’s also a clear intention to explore the philosophical conflict between the impulses that rule people’s behavior and the social rules that restrain our desires yet can feed prejudices. Finally, there’s a whole discussion about immigration and the neocolonialism that’s inflicted on African people who arrive in Europe in hopes of better living conditions.

There are many interesting ideas thrown into Snake Gas, but that quickly turns into an issue. With so many complex questions intertwined in the plot, any filmmaker would struggle to craft a cohesive narrative that could still keep audiences engaged. However, what makes Snake Gas even more inaccessible is how Jařab seems mostly concerned about the presentation of each scene instead of the cohesion of the whole. That’s why the film is filled with dreamlike sequences that are used to present an idea, but don’t affect the main story in any meaningful way. To make things worse, there’s no clear indicator of what is real and what’s an illusion, which leads to time jumps that can be confusing and bothersome.

‘Snake Gas’ Trades Coherence for Experimentation
Image via Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Snake Gas wants to challenge its audiences, which is why it purposely avoids any clarity, betting on obscure dialogues that overuse ambiguous pronouns and characters who keep banal information a secret just to add to the feeling of mystery. While Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Coppola’s Apocalypse Now also delve into how journeying into a new territory feels ethereal, this pushes things so far that the film becomes impenetrable at certain times.

Snake Gas can be beautiful to look at, with Oleg Mutu’s cinematography drawing our attention when we’ve long since been disconnected from the story. As a result, it feels like a piece of experimental cinema that, unfortunately, runs too long for its own sake. With so many essential themes being handled by Snake Gas’ chaotic story, one can’t help to wonder if this was indeed the best approach for such a specific project.

Rating: D

Snake Gas had its world premiere at 2023’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.