Where the River Runs Black

One of my all time favorite "Jungle" movies.

I first heard about this movie when I was living down south and a friend of mine mentioned it to me. A local TV station at that time, late 1980s, was trying to have it blocked for some reason. I never did get to see it at that time. A year later, a girlfriend of mine at the time told me about the movie and how much she loved it, so I told her what had happened in that little town down south. She'd told me that was stupid the move was awesome and if I ever got the chance to see it. Two years later, back in New York, I came across the movie for sale in a video store and snatched it up thinking I had to see what all this was about.

I wasn't disappointed.

However, for a short while after viewing the movie the fist time around, I did keep an eye out for large snakes hanging out in trees whenever I went hiking or cannoning. . .

Lazaro, after loosing his father--look out for big snakes--and later his mother, lives alone in the jungle for a short while. The villagers down the river eventually come to call him the Dolphin Boy, because he's often seen swimming with dolphins and they even believe he can become one and swim away if in danger. Later Lazaro is caught by fisherman and taken to a church and that's when the story takes a twisting turn that I found very interesting and thoughtful. I did get a kick out of watching them try and give the Jungle Boy a hair cut or make him wear sneakers. And there is one scene where Lazaro wants to share a snack he caught with his new friend that I found both funny and touching.

For some reason this story touched something deep inside me and I've loved it ever since. Visually it was very pleasing with lush jungles and the contrasting open mine pits looking like gaping wounds in the Garden of Eden. The young actors (brothers) who play Lazaro are very convincing in their portrayal of a child of the rain forest, very well acted and believable, and as other's have pointed out, very stunning looking.

It'd be great if they made more movies like this one . . . But as someone has already mentioned, movies like this come along maybe once ever ten or so years.

This is a powerful story and a beautiful movie. Worth seeing if you can find it. The photography and the images are stunning. I saw the movie last on a Olympic cruise down the Amazon which made it even more magical.

The movie tells the story of Lazaro, son of a priest and a beautiful woman who lived deep in the Amazon jungle. When Lazaro's mother is killed the dolphins raise him and the local Indians begin to call him Dolphin Boy believing he is part human, part dolphin. It is a powerful story of Lazaro's conflicts with society but it is also the conflict between nature and man or progress. As others have commented it is the kind of movie that only comes along once every ten years.

If you enjoy the movie you should look for the original book Lazaro by David Kendall. The imagery in the book is so vivid in some ways it is better than the movie.

I haven't seen this movie for years, but it has always "haunted" me, and I have never been able to forget it. I have frequently looked for it on DVD, hoping to see it pop up in stores or on Amazon, but it is apparently only available online as used VHS. I don't own it in any form, so I am wondering what the latest news is as to a future release on DVD.

Since I was very young, I have been a fan of jungle movies. Many of them have had shallow and silly plots, but this movie is about the human spirit's ability to survive. It is a beautiful story, and is visually stunning. It's right up there with "The Emerald Forest" which came out the same year.

It was about a year or so after the release of this movie before I was able to see it. It's amazing how the human spirit can survive, no matter where this body of our's lives. The scenery was beautiful and the story line was wonderfully done.

The two brothers that played "Lazaro" (Alessandro And Marcelo Rabelo) do a remarkable job playing "Lazaro" at two different ages. I can see why they casting director chose both of them. Remarkably, they favor each other very much.

I have this movie taped from HBO since it was aired in 1987. It is one of my favorite movies. It is beautifully shot in the amazon, the sounds of the jungle add a lot to it also. I really like the story line it has great characters. You really do not see movies made like this except once in 10 years it seems.