The Emerald Forest (1985)

WARNING: This review may include spoilers Although this film may have been based on a true story, the actual account is not as the movie producers have chosen to depict their story line. I enjoyed the film simply because the beginning of the story, as well as the end of the story are factual, and the flow of the movies storyline will keep the audience's attention. A 10 year old boy named Tommy was taken away from his family at the edge of the forest where his father was working and raised by an Amazon tribe. Ten years would past before father and son are eventually re-united and the young innocent child is now a fully grown man and an experienced tribesman of the Amazon forest.What I enjoyed about the film was how the young child named Tommy was transformed in to tribesman and hunter Tomm"e" (after a ten year elapsed time is noted) grew in to a man and accepted his new life by the Amazon tribe who abducted him. When Tomme's father continues to build a bridge over the next several years so that heavy industrial equipment can cross the river and strip away the rain forest trees, the story takes on a different message. It is now a fight between the Amazon tribesman who are witnessing their land being stripped away by the white man and his heavy machinery to build this monster bridge, and a father's perseverance to find his lost son Tommy and bring him home to his mother.Excellent performances are noted as the actors playing the adult Tomme (Charley Boorman), Tomme's father Bill Markham (Powers Boothe), Jean Markham (Meg Foster) and Tomes' love interest tribeswoman Kachiri (Dira Paes). I found the scenery and interaction amongst the various Amazon tribes provided the audience with some insight as to how the Amazon tribes fought, protected, lived and even forged for food. John Boorman is an accomplished film maker both as a producer and director whose body of work also includes other highly acclaimed films such as Deliverance (1972) and the Tailor of Panama (2001).The Emerald Forest is an action/adventure story based on some real events which I mentioned earlier. If you can accept the film as nothing more than an opportunity to escape reality for two hours and vision yourself trying to survive in the dense Amazon forest than I believe you will enjoy director John Boorman's visionary story. Get yourself a good drink and some snacks, sit back and escape to The Emerald Forest. I give the film a strong 8 out of 10 rating.

Ecological thriller that has in highlighting the destruction of the South American rain woods ; being based upon a real story and filmmaker John Boorman cast his own son , Charley Boorman , in the starring character . Bill Markham(Powers Boothe) moves his family to Brazil where has a job as an engineer in construction a dam project . After the son (Charley Boorman) of engineer is abducted by an aboriginal tribe on the edge of the rain forest, the engineer and his wife (Meg Foster) spend the next 10 years searching for him . Ultimately Markham is captured by a cannibal and bloodthirsty tribe and ironically rescued by "Tomme," who only has dim memories of his biological dad . The teenager spends the next years living under jungle law and integrating an alternative lifestyle . Finally , the father discovering a happily adjusted boy who may not want to go back to so-called civilization . Although Bill wants desperately to have his son accompany him back to civilization, "Tomme's" loyalties now belong to "The Invisible People." The rain forest of the Amazon are disappearing at the rate of 5000 acres day . Four million Indians once lives there , 120.000 remain.An ecological adventure with mystical touches that was ahead of its time in denounce about forest destruction . This exciting film contains thrills , emotion , adventure and action scenes of infighting between violent rival tribes that generate a lot of entertainment . Inspired by an uncredited story about a Peruvian whose son disappeared under similar circumstances . According to director John Boorman's book 'Money Into Light', his initial choice for the part of Tomme was C. Thomas Howell. When he was unavailable, John decided to use his own son Charley for the part. He plays a boy grabbed by tribesmen whose community is facing disappearance because of the building of a massive dam designed and built by his daddy . Glamorous and lush cinematography by Philippe Rousselot who photographs wonderfully the Amazon jungle , obviously filmed under difficult conditions on location .This engrossing and enjoyable film with interesting screenplay by Rosco Pallenberg was well directed by John Boorman . He's a good professional filmmaking from the 6os , though sparsely scattered and giving various classics . John started as an assistant direction and his friendship with Lee Marvin allowed him to work in Hollywood as ¨Point Blank¨ (1967) and ¨Hell in the Pacific¨ (1968) from where he returned to the UK and directed ¨Leo¨ (1970) , a rare Sci-Fi titled ¨Zardoz¨ (1974) or the ¨failure Exorcist II¨ (1977). His films are without exception among the most exciting visually in the modern cinema . He became famous for Excalibur (1981), the best of them , ¨Emerald forest¨ (1985) with a ecologist denounce included and his autobiographic story ¨Hope and Glory¨ (1987) and which brought him another Academy Award Nomination after ¨Deliverance¨ . Rating ¨Emerald forest¨: Better than average . Wholesome watching .

Remember the 80s? For some of us, that's now along time ago. I recall "green" issues becoming a hot topic, at least among the Intelligensia. With only 47 reviews, there's little evidence to suggest this film appeals to wider audiences. A sad indictment that green issues are still overlooked.One of the better cinema releases made during that decade (when politics took a sharp turn right) was this technically masterful production. So, I'm surprised Emerald Forest only limps in with a 6.8 rating. I doubt films this well-made would get past the accountants in 2011.Boorman's wonderful films include Excalibur and Deliverance. Here, deep in the Amazonian Jungle, he's at the top of his game. We have beautiful cinematography, gritty and memorable acting, a thundering plot that keeps us entertained throughout the movie.Okay, there's the typical "Noble Savage" motif and a rather convenient conflict between two tribes (the Fierce People seemed over-simplistic). But it's a mainstream movie, so we cannot expect too much. At least Boorman attempted to research Amazonian Tribal Life, so this film does not suffer too much from ignorant stereotyping.A feature of many Boorman Films is the focus on touching relationships. Here, we have two different kinds of "father-son" interaction, Tomme's real determined father and Tomme's wise, tribal one. There's also the Romeo & Juliet style interaction between Tomme and Kachiri (handled sensitively by Boorman). Other more complex relationships are also explored, such as interactions between different tribes, or the exploitative practices of some "western" visitors, whose treatment of the natives is less than fair.The film's a rich tapestry. I still find it breathtaking viewing.

I like to watch in pairs, and this was paired with Herzog's "Green Ants Dream."The central character here is a teen, played by the director's son, who is kidnapped by Amazonian Indians at six and raised in nature. There are threats, adventures, encounters with "civilization." They provide the focus of the energy in this thing. Its all about that energy which we take from the juice of adolescence, perceive as the energy of an action movie and conflate (as we are intended to) with the natural richness of the rainforest.Its a simple trick, but by gosh it works. Why is not a mystery: the teen drive is transformed into something pure here, done so by the actresses who play the teen Indian girls, lovely, and effectively nude. In order to underscore the point, the plot has them (importantly, as a group) kidnapped into civilization as a the complement of the original kidnapping. But the purpose here is prostitution. When someone knows what they are doing and delivers the goods, its always a remarkable thing. The narrative engineering conveys the lack of engineering, and makes us desire the purity of encountering things without artifice.Conveying this notion is then mixed with a completely unrelated message about the destruction of the rainforest and its central importance to the global ecology. Its rather dishonest, this, but because its such a noble cause we let it slip. But its a shame. In their defense, the acknowledge that just being native doesn't endow goodness: there is an "evil" tribe. Part of the tragedy is not shown: natives everywhere in the world aggressively damage the environment as much as their capabilities allow.The perfect delicacy of this puts "Apocalypto" to shame. Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.