The Emerald Forest

This movie supposedly sends an environmental message, and that's certainly true, but if you look closely it's really a fig leaf (like one of those little flaps on a string that constitute the sole bit of clothing worn by the villagers) for an updated Tarzan movie.

That said, this movie is tremendous entertainment. It is exciting almost all the way through. And when it's slow, there are lots of cute teenage girls in the altogether to gaze at. In fact, there's a demographically striking abundance of teenage girls in this particular tribe.

Favorite scene: During the courtship ritual, Tomme is given a club and is supposed "knock out" his girl in front of the villagers and then carry her off into the forest. She cowers. He hesitates, waves the club around. She glares at him and whispers, "Do it right!" So he hits her and she makes a show of being "knocked out." The whole courtship ritual is beautifully staged. I cannot attest to its authenticity, but it's perfectly clear as he "defends" her from menacing dudes, refuses to be carried off by the other girls, etc. The sheer enthusiasm portrayed is remarkable.

Powers Boothe, playing a dam engineer, makes a dashing Trader Horn-type. He has a great scene when he wakes up in the village only to see his son, Tomme, sleeping peaceful and embracing his girl, both practically nude in the next hammock. The expressions that run across his face are priceless.

The Fierce People live up to their name, but I am dubious that people who live in nature can be so infected with violence.

I learned something. You can climb a high-rise by wrapping vines around your feet. Who knew? The dam business at the end was totally righteous, but, really, pretty preposterous.

And how about that shot of the eagle in flight. Taken from about two feet away. Pretty neat.

Terrific Hollywood movie? You bet. Werner Herzog? Not so much.

Have you ever seen a movie you thought was great, but couldn't even remember its name a month later? This is one movie you will never forget.

I have heard it said that the true test of a movie, or any art form, is whether it accomplishes what it set out to do. Did it inform you, delight you, anger you, scare you, or make you laugh? Besides presenting a very entertaining and original storyline, this movie wants you to care about the environment. After seeing The Emerald Forest, I immediately called one of the major environmental organizations (I don't want to play favorites, but it's one of these: The Nature Conservancy, WWF, Greenpeace, The Sierra Club...) to set up automatic monthly contributions. I never expected a movie to have so great an impact on me, especially such a long lasting one. You would expect that, after time, my enthusiasm would diminish, especially since I have no interest in ever visiting the Amazon! None whatsoever. However, this movie really changed my perspective on the global environment as a whole.

The central character is Tomme (Charlie Boorman). While watching his father direct the construction of a huge dam, Tomme is quickly and silently taken away by a native Brazilian Indian tribe called the Invisibles. They don't see their actions as kidnapping. When they see the young boy, they figure he would be better off with them, rather than with the "termite people", the name they give to the white men who seem to devour all the trees.

Tomme's father spends the next 10 years trying to find him.

This is definitely a thought-provoking movie, but one that is not too heavy handed. It's one of the most entertaining movies I have ever seen, the type of movie you can watch over and over.

Update: Since I had not seen this movie for many years, I decided to see it again last night. I was totally blown away. It was even better than I remembered. Although my original 9-star rating is very high praise, I can't fathom how I could have enjoyed the movie more, so I raised my rating from 9 stars to 10 stars. Director John Boorman also directed Beyond Rangoon, and some other films that are amazingly good.

Charley Boorman's performance is simply brilliant. I can't imagine anyone better in the role of Tomme in The Emerald Forest. I am definitely going to start watching the other movies he has made.

The Emerald Forest is an excellent jungle adventure which is based on a true story.

A young boy is kidnapped by a tribe in the Amazon known as the Invisible People. His dad (Powers Boothe) then spends 10 years searching for him and eventually succeeds, but only by chance. He decides to stay with the tribe rather than go back to his original family.

Boothe's son when grown up is played by the director's son, Charley Boorman and does a great job playing the part. This movie gives you an idea on what it would be like living in the Amazon. Excellent scenery makes the movie better still. It was shot on location in the Amazon.

I have seen this movie a couple of times and enjoyed very much. Watch it if you get the chance.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

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 .

THE EMERALD FOREST sees John Boorman returning to the dark heart of the world's wildernesses in this story about native tribes living in the Amazon. Powers Boothe plays an engineer whose son is kidnapped by one such tribe, leading him on a ten-year search for answers.

The film works on a double level. First, it stands as a completely adequate action-adventure, with all manner of violent shoot-outs, especially a climactic showdown that brings back memories of hard-hitting '70s greats like ROLLING THUNDER. There's suspense a-plenty, along with strong turns from both Boothe and the director's son.

The film's storyline also allows Boorman to explore themes that are clearly close to his heart, namely the destruction of the Amazonian rainforest by greedy developers and loggers, who turn out to be the real villains of the piece. Yes, it sounds like it could be preachy but it never is, thanks to Boorman's skill at handling the material with subtlety and grace.

THE EMERALD FOREST is virtually unknown today - I caught it tucked away in a late-night showing - but it doesn't deserve to be; DELIVERANCE is the better known effort but this comes close at frequent intervals.