The Emerald Forest [DVD]

To reveal to our "civilized" world our human roots in nature is an ambitious goal for any film. To do so using the story of hidden tribes in the Amazon, with cultures incomprehensible to "modern" humans, is remarkably ambitious. This film brings a deep ecology sensibility that is desperately needed - but just as desperately avoided in our complacent, self-loathing, materialistic culture."The Emerald Forest" is awkward at times. I'm not sure of the order in which the scenes were shot, but the director manages to lead us in the right direction. The acting appears to evolve(or is it our awareness that evolves?), as the viewer is lured into the contracting jungle culture of these tribes, and away from the dead world of constant construction, assimilation and expansion. What is most amazing, in a way, is the gentleness with which Boorman treats contemporary culture. This is the key to providing his ecological message the wings of flight that make our jaws drop in the midst of breattaking scenery and well-presented tribal culture and ritual.Boorman lets the subject of his preaching be slowly revealed through the story and characters rather than bludgeoning us with immensely evil, calculating villains. As it is in reality, the insanity lies in our collective indifference, our willingness to accept a pathetic world of materialism and technology in the hopes that our connection with each other, our bodies and nature will not be missed. Incremental trade-offs leading to "higher standards of living" have left us dispossessed of our souls, seeking solace in hedonism and "pie in the sky" religions that cultivate the greed and abomination they purport so piously to eliminate.Yet, in this process, key elements of the movie involve psychedelic drugs and nudity, albeit natural and normal in the cultures Boorman portrays. Can we be lured back into the jungle with titillation? Obviously, the life is harsh and dangers abound. Yet, this film isn't about a bunch of teenagers getting high. It is about an adult ritual of expanded consciousness and vision that is meant not to narrow consciousness as alcohol use does, but to expand it, to bring perspective and connection in the quest of vision and leadership.Likewise, this film portrays nudity in the context of normal life and does not eroticize it. It is refreshingly ironic that, when liberated from enforced prostitution in a heavily armed brothel, the women instinctively remove the scanty clothing and adornments that have been used to make them "attractive." If clothing is a metaphor, what else does our culture uses to conceal our humanity? If hallucinogens are a metaphor, what else does our culture use to deaden our sensibilities so that we seek sexual conquest and materialistic acquisition instead of trusting, healthy relationships with the people and world around us?Boorman's "The Emerald Forest" is an odd, but remarkable achievement that has stood the test of time quite well thus far. In 2009, this 1985 film seems even more wise than when it was created.

This 1985 movie is hugely important 20 years later in terms of its commentary on "Modernity" and modernity's increasing damage to our environment, scientifically called, "The Biosphere". Those primitives who live "Respecting Mother Earth" as opposed to "Ripping the skin off of the World, know what "The modern world has forgotten", that the Industrial Age and Technological Age have produced both great good and increasing damage to our world. Even through this movie won no "Oscars" it is far more important than most Oscar-winning movies, except perhaps for Dances With Wolves. Tommy's father, realizing the damage to the natural world that the dam he himself built, blows it up so that his son, who lives in the Amazon Rainforest, can have a future with his wife and his descendants. It is very clear, two decades after this film came out that we must switch to renewable energy sources. The burning of fossil fuels is re-releasing the huge amounts of Carbon Dioxide first released from ancient volcanos 400 million years ago. That Carbon Dioxide raised the Earth's surface temperature to 130-140 degrees Fahrenheit, ushering in the age of the giant reptiles. Burning fossil fuels is re-releasing that Carbon Dioxide and we are going to again experience surface temperatures of 130-140 degrees Fahrenheit, obliterating modern civilization. Nature will not tolerate our abuse of it and will respond in very impersonal ways, which we are already experiencing as giant forest fires, increased desertification, rising seas, etc. This is a "Must See" movie for everybody.

I have had this movie on VHS forever, and bought the DVD, as I watch and re-watch it. The Emerald Forest is excellently cast, with Powers Boothe as the father who never gives up looking for his son, lost in the forest of the Amazon. He is an engineer, working to create a dam for the river. His son is taken by a tribe whose land is eaten away by civilization, which brings them closer with a fierce tribe intent on killing and stealing humans for slavery and consumption. These three forces of human nature show contrasts and effects of different civilizations, and the interaction of the protagonist and antagonist. Beautifully directed by one of my favorites, John Boorman (see Hope and Glory and The Tailor of Panama) who also stars his son Charlie, who shows his early potential then as an actor. Highly recommended.by me.

Wonderful movie, thank you.

I remember Powers Boothe as Tommy's father, he did all right in his role with this well filmed, if somewhat "pro primitives/ pro environment movie, Charley Boorman was perhaps even better as his lost son turned "Indian".The "look"of the film is almost National Geographic film in quality following the adventures of Charley and his adopted family.. It mostly looks good except in the use of nudity among the tribe. You see a lot of bare breasts but also a lot of strategically placed vines covering genitals ( one example being when some of the tribal women are rescued from a life of forced prostitution- they rip off their dresses and grab the nearest vines to cover themselves.)There's a bit of "natives know best" environmentalism all the way, like James Cameron has been accused of with Avatar, not too bad except the way in which the evil dam project is destroyed in the end. Bill Markham, Boothe, blasts his own dam but most of the destruction is caused by a flood generated by his son's tribe (he never gets him back, even after finding him) in a silly magic rain dance ritual led by his son Charley.The film is beautiful to look at, and worth the effort in spite of the "preachiness".One last note, I'd always wondered about the "Indians" so I looked up this movie through Amazon's imdb link- learned almost nothing except that most of them made only this one movie. I have no idea if they even were Indians!

This wonderfully filmed movie, backdropped by the Amazon and Amerindian tribes, is worth the whole viewing experience just as a memoranda of a world we are quickly losing. The clash of cultures between the modern and the primeval is the essence of the movie, with the innocent youth making the choice we would all like to be able to make: the natural world being preferable in all of its aspects. The ending is a bit over-the-top with the engineering father finally deciding to derail the dam project that endangers the Amazon wilderness, but I can forgive that in view of the larger message that the movie is aspiring to make. Meg Foster is a bit understated as the mother, but the father-son relationship is explored in a valid, if machismo, way. The entire tribe calling the father 'Daddy' throughout the movie still remains as humorous now as when I first saw it in 1983... the movie touched me in my university years and still evokes that idealism now as I add it to my library. But it would work better in a wide-screen format, given the wonder of the Amazon setting.

I don't know how many times I've watched this movie. Excellent! The movie presents a strong message about deforesting the rain forest, obviously the defrosters have not heard the message.

interesting show

The film itself is of course a classic. But right up until the last email I received before delivery I was being told that this was in immaculate condition. In fact it looked like a ripoff from a VHS tape. The image was not sharp until played down at 4:5 level. Only the middle 70% of the image was visible until the end credits. There were no true English subtitles available except for the single "(native language)", so I had a pure cinema experience for most of the film: silent cinema with jabber added. It says US import but the Chinese/Korean titles before the menu suggests that it was actually Asian by way of US. The menu itself seemed like a domestic brew.