Tommy is taken from his family by an Amazon tribe called "The Invisible Ones" and father Bill spends ten years searching for him. After finding a few leads, he has an encounter with a dangerous cannibal tribe called "The Fierce Ones" and actually stumbles on his son as he tries to flee for his life. The dilemma of the piece comes with a decision left up to Tommy, leave his tribe which are essentially his real family after ten years of living with them or joining his father in the modern civilization across the river.
The film is more a focus on how modernization, progress if you will, has began to wipe out the trees and land of Amazon tribes as they slowly die out. Interesting enough is that Bill is a model example of this type of progress as he heads a log dam which clears land once civilized by The Fierce Ones tribe. He will spend time with The Invisible Ones tribe and find the error of his ways seeing that what he and others(White Man)are doing to people who have lived here for centuries destroying cultures. We also see how the ugliness of prostitution has became a stigma to tribes as The Fierce Ones trade women from The Invisible Ones tribe for machine guns. Using the machine guns, The Fierced Ones have a clear advantage over The Invisible Ones and their mere spears. Again, through that we see how progress can also destroy a civilization..The Fierce Ones can wipe out who they deem a threat and/or nuisance with advanced weaponry.
When The Invisible Ones lose a great deal of their men to those machine gun attacks, Tomme(his name amongst his tribe)will search for his father across the river for help to get back their women who have been traded to a prostitution house.
Stunning cinematography(by Philippe Rousselot)and score are highlights of this amazingly shot film set in the Amazon. Through Boorman's fluid camera-work, we follow the characters as they travel to destinations in the immense forest, yet see what is happening as modernization is chopping away the trees that once populated said Amazon forest. I thought the angle of the modern age clashing with tribal customs in the form of Tommy to be the strong point of the film while the progress part of the film as it pertains to the cultures being wiped out laid on a bit too thick. I didn't quite like the remaining twenty minutes(the deal with the prostitution ring resulting in heavy violence and the whole rain ordeal as it destroys the dam) as much as the first hour as Powers Booth's Bill was amongst a culture of people he knew nothing about. Seeing his son almost completely tribal is interesting not to mention the viewer getting a glimpse into a unique culture of people and their ways of living. The mythological aspects were also diverting from the realism of the film(if a wee bit silly).
Young Charley Boorman is quite impressive as Tomme.
The film is more a focus on how modernization, progress if you will, has began to wipe out the trees and land of Amazon tribes as they slowly die out. Interesting enough is that Bill is a model example of this type of progress as he heads a log dam which clears land once civilized by The Fierce Ones tribe. He will spend time with The Invisible Ones tribe and find the error of his ways seeing that what he and others(White Man)are doing to people who have lived here for centuries destroying cultures. We also see how the ugliness of prostitution has became a stigma to tribes as The Fierce Ones trade women from The Invisible Ones tribe for machine guns. Using the machine guns, The Fierced Ones have a clear advantage over The Invisible Ones and their mere spears. Again, through that we see how progress can also destroy a civilization..The Fierce Ones can wipe out who they deem a threat and/or nuisance with advanced weaponry.
When The Invisible Ones lose a great deal of their men to those machine gun attacks, Tomme(his name amongst his tribe)will search for his father across the river for help to get back their women who have been traded to a prostitution house.
Stunning cinematography(by Philippe Rousselot)and score are highlights of this amazingly shot film set in the Amazon. Through Boorman's fluid camera-work, we follow the characters as they travel to destinations in the immense forest, yet see what is happening as modernization is chopping away the trees that once populated said Amazon forest. I thought the angle of the modern age clashing with tribal customs in the form of Tommy to be the strong point of the film while the progress part of the film as it pertains to the cultures being wiped out laid on a bit too thick. I didn't quite like the remaining twenty minutes(the deal with the prostitution ring resulting in heavy violence and the whole rain ordeal as it destroys the dam) as much as the first hour as Powers Booth's Bill was amongst a culture of people he knew nothing about. Seeing his son almost completely tribal is interesting not to mention the viewer getting a glimpse into a unique culture of people and their ways of living. The mythological aspects were also diverting from the realism of the film(if a wee bit silly).
Young Charley Boorman is quite impressive as Tomme.