Selva Viva

This movie, if I remember correctly, originally aired on HBO.

A friend of mine taped it for me and sent it to me as a gift because he had an idea I would like it.

Boy, was that an understatement.

The movie reminded me of a Tarzan movie called "Tarzan And The Jungle Boy", where they find a boy who crashed in the jingle and spent years there before he was found.

The two brothers who play Lazaro, Alessandro Rabelo and Marcelo Rabelo, look so much alike that it's no wonder they chose them to play the same character at different ages. They both give a stunning performance as the adoreable jungle boy.

It starts with a touch of awesome music and a priest making his way to give his confession to another priest. The story is his confession. He tells how he feels he has sinned against God, by allowing an event to take place. Lazaro is a young boy, raised dolphins in the jungle, after his mother is raped and killed (before his very eyes), by wicked men! The priest (Charles Durning) befriends Lazaro and tries to make the boy civilized. But Lazaro is vengeful toward the men who killed his mother, and has the opportunity to strike back!

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.

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.

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.