Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Powers Boothe, Meg Foster, Charley Boorman, Dira Paes,
Yara Vaneau, William Rodriguez, Eduardo Conde, Ariel Coelho | Written by Rospo Pallenberg
UK certification 12 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 109 minutes | Directed by John Boorman
A timely reissue for this 1985 drama from the man who also made Deliverance. Boothe plays Bill Markham, who brings his family to Brazil with him while he works on a dam project — part of which involves tearing down great swathes of the Amazon rainforest. When a local tribe called the Invisible People kidnaps his young son, Markham spends the next 10 years trying to find him. And find him he does, eventually — only to find that his son Tommy (Charley Boorman), now known as Tomme, has grown up as a fully-fledged Indian. He has adopted their culture, their language and their way of life.
In the 20-odd years since The Emerald Forest was made, more than 400,000 square kilometres of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed — mainly for grazing land for cattle, so McDonalds can sell you more of their disgusting hamburgers. The movie carries a very strong environmental and ecological message, and also points out the clash of the old and new worlds as well as the dangers to indigenous cultures of global expansion. You can clearly see where Boorman's heart lies. Despite its age, its message is as relevant today as it ever was. Plus it's still a great adventure story, and probably the best film that Charley Boorman — who today is better known as Ewan McGregor's mate — has ever made. One small moan, though, is that only about half the Indians' dialogue is subtitled. How come? Why not subtitle it all?
EXTRAS ** Just the theatrical trailer and a half-hour chat with director John Boorman about the making of the film.