A construction designer working in the Amazon is visiting a logging site with his family when his seven-year-old son Tommy is kidnapped by native tribesmen and vanishes into the rainforest. Ten years later, after an expedition in which he is captured by cannibals, the father is finally reunited with the son, who has been raised by the savages and knows no other way of life.
This is a pretty unique picture, even if the roots of the story obviously come from Tarzan, because it manages to be three things at once; an exciting jungle action flick, an intimate family drama and a sobering environmental message movie. It manages to achieve this I think partly because of the excellent script by Rospo Pallenberg, and partly because there are no big-shot movie stars in the cast looking ridiculous in the jungle. Boothe and Foster are both terrific and virtually everyone else is an authentic-looking non-actor (Polonah in particular, as Wanadi, the Chief of the Invisible People and Tommy's surrogate father, is superb). The casting of the director's son in the pivotal role is a bit ethically shaky, but the younger Boorman is not only ideal for the role (his almost-too-good-looking features and brilliant blonde locks contrast perfectly with the tribespeople) but he delivers a carefully measured performance of confident innocence. The heartachingly beautiful locations, the rich detail of the Invisible People's customs and a terrific electro-ethnic score by Junior Homrich all add tremendous atmosphere to an extremely original and captivating film. A jungle adventure not to be missed.
This is a pretty unique picture, even if the roots of the story obviously come from Tarzan, because it manages to be three things at once; an exciting jungle action flick, an intimate family drama and a sobering environmental message movie. It manages to achieve this I think partly because of the excellent script by Rospo Pallenberg, and partly because there are no big-shot movie stars in the cast looking ridiculous in the jungle. Boothe and Foster are both terrific and virtually everyone else is an authentic-looking non-actor (Polonah in particular, as Wanadi, the Chief of the Invisible People and Tommy's surrogate father, is superb). The casting of the director's son in the pivotal role is a bit ethically shaky, but the younger Boorman is not only ideal for the role (his almost-too-good-looking features and brilliant blonde locks contrast perfectly with the tribespeople) but he delivers a carefully measured performance of confident innocence. The heartachingly beautiful locations, the rich detail of the Invisible People's customs and a terrific electro-ethnic score by Junior Homrich all add tremendous atmosphere to an extremely original and captivating film. A jungle adventure not to be missed.