Pepe, a hippopotamus once owned by notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar, narrates his own tragic tale in the experimental docufiction film “Pepe” by Dominican director Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias. The film blends real-life events surrounding Escobar’s imported hippos with an imaginative narrative that explores themes of colonialism and human intervention in nature. The story begins in the late 1970s, with a German tour group visiting Namibia to photograph hippos, despite local beliefs that regard the animals as omens of bad news.
As the hippos are transported from their ancestral land to Colombia, Pepe’s commentary draws parallels to the repatriation of African art and the complex geopolitics surrounding it. Los Santos Arias examines the community of Colombian-born hippos, descendants of those brought over by Escobar, and draws comparisons between animal kingdom hierarchies and human societies. Pepe’s sibling, Pablito, exemplifies the ruthless behaviors seen in both species.
pepe’s tragic displacement and reflections
Throughout the film, different actors voice Pepe as his narration switches languages, reflecting the fragmented identities imposed on him. The director ensures that Pepe’s distinctive snorts remain a crucial element in the film’s soundscape.
The killing of Pepe, perceived as a danger, underscores the perverse nature of punishing animals for circumstances imposed by humans. This violence mirrors the treatment of Indigenous and Afro-descendant populations in Colombia and the director’s native Dominican Republic, both products of European colonialism and exploitation. Pepe emerges as a victim of illegitimate appropriation, questioning humanity’s right to displace fauna for the sake of ownership or control.
Escobar’s actions reflect the same power-hungry, self-centered motivations that justify heinous crimes. While the film occasionally digresses to the lives of local fishermen along the Magdalena River, shifting focus away from Pepe’s poignant reflections, it ultimately presents a thought-provoking narrative that unearths deep-rooted questions about humanity’s invasive tendencies through the tragic tale of a displaced hippo in a foreign land.