Truly Dreadful Film

It is a performances centric movie

Fantastic!

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

The Emerald Forest is a movie far ahead of its times. The move powerfully shows the imminent danger caused by the increasing destruction of the Amazon forest. Boorman does an excellent job showing the lives of the native Indians and their ability to live in harmony with the forest, contrasting it against the "white man's" careless and harsh way of destroying the forest to make clearings. The Emerald Forest does a wonderful job showing the need for environmental justice. The metaphor used by the Invisible People, in calling the white men "Termite People", was very powerful. It serves as a perfect example of how the white men chews down trees. The scenes of the Invisible Peoples intimate contact with the forest and animals around them was powerful. They live as one with the forest, both helping each other. Tommy is one the most powerful characters in the movie as he successfully serves as a bridge that connects the outside world with the Invisible People. The movie could have been better if it showed more of the Invisible People's daily lives, more of their interaction with their world. It could also have showed more of the effects the loss of forest had on the Indians, how the Indians lives changed when they were forced to live in the city. The most important scene in the movie was when the Invisible People's women were taken into the city and forced to wear clothes. It seems completely different and unnatural. The huge contrast of the Invisible People's way of living strongly advocated for the preservation of the forest. The main character, Tommy, as a young boy was taken by the Chief of the Invisible People to save him from the Termite people. The Invisible People calls the white man the Termite people because they chew away the grandfather trees and destroys the forest. Like their name, the Invisible People is able to live in perfect harmony with the earth, leaving nothing behind and never taking more than they need, thus leaving the forest the way it were; as if they had never been there. For ten years, Tommy grows up among the Invisible People, learning their ways and truly becomes one of them. Meanwhile, tommy's family never stopped looking for him. During their search, Tommy's mother came into contact with an overflowing number of abandoned children, leading her to start to help them. Using the arrow shot at him during Tommy's abduction, Tommy's father was able to deduce that the tribe who took him is called the Invisible People. During this time, Tommy undergoes a rite of passage and becomes a man. He then sees his spirit animal and goes on a quest to obtain the special rocks that produce the paint which allows the Invisible people to blend into the forest. Although the journey was extremely dangerous due to the strongly violent Fierce People who often attack the Invisible People, Tommy successfully reaches the rocks. Coincidentally, tommy's father arrives at the same place at the same time. Father and son immediately recognizes each other and together, they fend off the Fierce People and returns safely among the Invisible People.Markham, Tommy's father was harmed during this ordeal and rests up in with the Invisible People. Tommy, having successfully returned with prized stones, was hailed as a hero and accepted by Kachiri, a beautiful girl. Tommy and Kachiri have a courtship ritual and comes together. After recovering, Markham wants to take Tommy back to civilization, but Tommy adamantly refuses. Tommy convinces Markham to take the pipe and in doing so, Markham sees his spirit animal and understands the Invisible people better. Still, he insists on going back, because that is where he belongs. A group of the Invisible people help him go to the edge of the World, which is the end of the forest. On their way back, the Invisible people see smoke rising from their home, panicking, they race back to find their campgrounds destroyed and burned, several members killed, and all of their young women gone. The Fierce People had attacked while they were gone and had taken the women into the city to be used as prostitutes. After cremating the dead and drinking some of their ashes, they once again set out to rescue their women. They venture into unknown territory, filled with strange trees (electricity poles) and weird branches (barbed wires). The Fierce People are now armed with guns, which the Invisible People's bows and arrows are no match for. Tommy, desperate to get Kachiri back goes on a quest to find his father. Reaching far back into his memory, he remembers his house and he climbs several floors to reach his parent's apartment. With Markham's help they successfully rescue all the women. As they part ways, Markham tells Tommy of the dam, and how with its completion, more white men will come. Tommy, naïve and optimistic, believe that if they ask for heavy rain, the dam will be washed away. So they return to their home and ask the frogs to sing extra loud. Heavy rain comes for several days, resulting in a large flood. Markham secretly helps by placing dynamites at the base of the dam, bursting it open, giving Tommy and his tribe more time in the unaltered forest.

John Boorman's The Emerald Forest is the kind of exotic, intoxicating, wildly adventurous, unbelievable and unforgettable film that comes along once in a decade, if that. These days this sort of film would be gilded to the hilt with unnecessary Cgi, a burden which filmmakers just can't seem to free themselves from in this age. Back in 1985, they had to use what they had, filling every frame with on-location authenticity, genuine realism which prompts a feeling of wonder and sense of mysticism from the viewer, which any computer generated effort just cannot compete with (I will concede that this year's The Jungle Book came up aces, so there are a few cutting edge exceptions). This film is quite the undertaking for both cast and crew, and one can see from scene to scene the monumental effort and passion that went into bringing this story to life. It's also partly based on true events, adding to the resonance. Powers Boothe plays technical engineer Bill Markham, who is living with his wife (Meg Foster) and two small children in Brazil, while he designs plans for a great river dam which will allow further development. One day, on a picnic at the edge of the rainforest, his son Tommy disappears, after spotting an elusive tribe of Natives. Gone with no trace but an arrow lodged in a nearby tree, Bill launches a search for his son that spans a decade, returning year after year to probe the vast, untamed jungle in hopes of somehow finding Tommy. Tommy, now a young man and played by the director's son Charley Boorman, has been adopted and raised by the kindly tribe, known as 'The Invisible People' for they way they remain unseen as they move about their home in the forests. Tommy is very much one of them, taken up their customs and traditions, with nothing but vague memories of Bill in his dreams, which he doesn't believe to have actually happened. One day in the hostile territory of 'The Fierce People', Tommy and Bill are reunited, Tommy taking his wounded father to his home village. Bill is heartbroken that his son is essentially no longer his, conflicted by the situation. Tommy has just entered his life as a man, taking a gorgeous wife (Dira Paes) from his village and starting a future. Trouble brews as The Fierce People threaten Tommy's village, and their women, prompting him to seek Bill's help. It's interesting to see how a tribe who have had little to no contact with the outside world react to it, calling it 'the dead world' and referring to the developers as the Termite People who cut down the grandfather trees. The environmental message is never preachy, always feeling like a vital and important truth that is organic and unforced, emerging through the characters and their interactions. The Natives possess an innate spirituality and connection to the intangible which we have forgotten as progress alters us, still rooted deeply in forces beyond our 21st century comprehension. Boothe is deeply affecting in one of his best roles, a desperate father through and through, while also filling out the broad shoes of the wilderness adventurer he has become over the years. He fills his performance with pathos, longing and is the emotional soul of the piece. Boorman is spry and takes up the aura of Tommy well, mastering the complex linguistics and mannerisms of the tribe admirably. One of my favourite aspects of the film is its exquisite and moving score, the main theme evoking wild romanticism, old world secrets and the unending beauty of nature so well that one feels goosebumps as if we're really there in that setting. Pure cinematic magic, a timeless story told without flaw or hitch, and a breathtaking piece of film.

DVD rental from Netflix, the video is very nice, the sound is only Prologic for this older movie.It is best to say this movie was "inspired by" real events, but certainly does not closely represent what actually happened when an US Engineer in charge of building a dam in the Amazon lost his young son who was about 7 at the time. He learns 10 years later that the blonde boy was actually taken by the tribe who call themselves the "invisible people" because with their green-based markings make themselves almost invisible in the Amazon forest.Powers Boothe is the Engineer, Bill Markham. He never gives up and over the 10-year construction of the dam finally locates his son, who has grown up as a member of the tribe, embracing their ways and his new father and mother.The Tommy of 17 is played by the director's son, Charley Boorman. His tribe calls him "Tomme" which is derived from his birth name. Tomme has reached the age where he must go through the ritual to become a man, then take a young girl as his wife. His chosen one is pretty Dira Paes as Kachiri, a resident of the neighboring friendly tribe. Dira was just an ordinary girl who grew up in the Amazon, and according to her IMDb information was about 15 during filming in this, her first movie. I see she has gone on to a nice acting career, and photos show she grew into a very attractive woman. She has a great smile and reminds me of Jennifer Lopez.The drama starts when owners of a brothel bargain with some hostile natives, known as the "fierce people". For a machine gun and ammunition, if they will bring in some new young ladies. They end up raiding the village, killing some, and kidnapping a dozen or so young ladies, including Kachiri, and forcing them into prostitution. Tomme searches for and finds his original dad again, to get his help to defeat the fierce people and get their women back. Another interest is conservation of the rain forest, and in the end Tomme prays for frogs, because when the frogs sing it rains. An unexpected flood tears down the almost complete dam and that area of the native forest is safe for a while.Good movie, and probably fairly authentic since the director lived with a native tribe for a while to get a feel for their ways. There is of course a lot of natural nudity, but it seems authentic rather than erotic. Much like what is in "The Bounty" with Mel Gibson.

The movie the Emerald Forest was a fictional story that was based on a true story. Boorman based his movie of a article that appeared in the Los Angeles Time in the early 1980's which talked about a father whose son was abducted by native tribes and rediscovered ten years later. This may be a true story although there are critics out there who claim that the man made up the story because he wanted attention. The Emerald Forest was a very good film. The Emerald Forest was the first film to bring up the issue of the destruction of the Amazon. The locations are picturesque and Boorman is able to capture the cultural authenticity of the native tribes of the Amazon. What really surprised me was that Boorman did not use actors but went deep into the jungles of Brazil to find real natives to give his a film an authentic feel. This was especially true regarding the Invisible People who Boorman portrayed as a mysterious and elusive tribe which is demonstrated when they are camouflaged in the jungle and manage to stroke Tommy's face with a feather undetected by his family who are only a few feet a away from the Invisible People. That being said although Boorman did capture the authenticity of the native tribes and address the issue of deforestation the storyline was a little dull and cliché. This movie contains all the clichés that other movies have where a white man meets the natives. The first major cliché we can see in the movie is when the white men come they bring with them guns and alcohol and of course they exploit the natives. Another cliché is that as the white men come and development and progress disturbs the native's way of living as well as destroy the rainforest. The final cliché which we see in a lot of movies where natives play a predominant role is that the native lifestyle is portrayed as a sanctuary that sin has never entered. I still believe the film was good and I understand for the most part that is really what happens but Boorman could have made the film a bit more interesting and different and still portray his message. The preservation of the rainforest can easily be identified as the overriding and most obvious theme portrayed in this movie. The concern for maintaining the rainforest is demonstrated through the presumed wisdom we are called to see in the American Indian elders, however; Bill Markham is blind to this wisdom until the end of the movie. A few statistics are also thrown around in the movie concerning the role the Amazon plays in the world and how the white man is destroying it all by bringing industry to the area. The statistics are thrown around in a subtle way for Markham to realize the implications and damage he has caused by building the damn, showing them as being far greater and vaster than he had expected. It was powerful to hear the reporter say that 40 percent of the world's oxygen supply is generated by the rain forests and watch Markham dismiss him because of his ignorance to the real issue. Also, the movie goes on to assert that 5,000 acres of Amazonian rainforest is disappearing every day. This is actually generous. Once Markham realizes the vastness of the problem, the tables had already been turned on him. He too is kidnapped and is rescued by his son "Tomme". This scene was powerful because it shows that the boy had actually become loyal to his kidnappers and what they stand for, not the white man plight for development and industrialization. Through all of Bill's begging and pleading, he wouldn't return back to civilization with his biological father. What does it reveal to his Bill? He finally understands the destruction of life he had contributed to over the past 10 years and tries to undo his wrong by letting a violent thunderstorm destroy the dam they built.