Amazon (1990) User Reviews

Interesting if imperfect jungle film

[JohnSeal · 6/10 · 28 June 2001]

Contrary to the only other 'review' of this film, Amazon is a fairly interesting and serious attempt to blend the adventure and art genres.

Director Mika Kaurismaki has clearly learned a lot from the Werner Herzog playbook, as there are many echoes of both Fitzcarraldo (with the Caterpillar filling in for the riverboat) and Aguirre. Amazon manages to make a decent case for rain forest preservation without bashing us over the head with that thesis. The film's major weakness is,predictably, its star turn by the acting-challenged Rae Dawn Chong, who fills in needlessly as the love interest. Otherwise this is a leisurely-paced but intriguing look at the greed driving the (presumably still ongoing) deforestation of this ecological landmark.

Such a strong message

[greenheart · 6/10 · 6 April 2021]

Movies like this should be made to deliver the message that destroying rainforests is simply not okay.

It's an interesting movie that grew on me. A potentially strong lead never quite hits fourth gear and his pair of strong-willed daughters were engaging until pretty much disappearing from the screen. His sidekick buddy had potential and Rae Dawn Chong is underused but delivers a quiet confidence.

A couple of plane scenes were terrific and the movie for me was at its strongest when there was a mix of cultures. Absolutely fascinating, this storyline should have been explored more.

I feel it is a movie of missed opportunities although the message is so strong and so important, it is hard to criticise.

An Oldie But a Goodie

[Planet-38 · 19 February 2013]

Having been released in 1990, some may find the subject matter dated. "Been there, seen that." In addition, this movie may not appeal to someone that does not want to be reminded of unpleasant facts. For instance, there is a line in the movie that goes something like, 'we took a bite from the apple and now won't be happy until we have destroyed every part of paradise.'

It seems at the start of this film, that it is going to be about an adventure in the jungle. An adventure like Indiana Jones or something like that. But the real adventure is in the transformation that takes place int the central character's life.

It is a slow-paced movie, but riveting. Slow-paced in a dreamlike way. Sort of like having a fever and being conscious of what's going on around you but it all seems like a dream. (The previous is a very inadequate description, but the best I can do with the words I have.)

But it wasn't all wonderful, and there may be things that will stand out so much, many won't be able to look past them to enjoy the film.

There are disjointed parts, unexplained occurrences, and some glaring inconsistencies. The one that bothered me most was hair. These people were out in the Amazon jungle, hundreds of miles from anything resembling a city, yet the main characters hair was always salon cut. One of the girls started out with short hair in Finland, and her hair length never changed, even when they were living in what was little more than a slave labor camp. It would have been different if their hair looked choppy or like bed-head, but wherever they were or no matter how much time passed, everyone's hair always looked freshly cut. For the detail inclined, this will be distracting.

Despite any negatives listed here, I truly enjoyed this film.

Lost in the forest

[DEPRESSEDcherry · 3/10 · 3 September 2018]

This 1990 drama's biggest attraction is its beautiful Brazilian setting, unfortunately, its one of its few strengths. Kari Vaananen plays a broke widowed businessman who takes his two teenage daughters with him to Brazil. A bush pilot, Robert Davi, introduces him to the idea of gold mining in the jungle, but a beautiful and educated local woman warns him about the possible consequences to the rainforest. This movie plods along at a tediously slow pace, it takes almost an hour for Rae Dawn Chong to appear and Robert Davi is criminally underused throughout. Vaananen comes across as very out of place and the whole film just has a clunky awkward presentation about it, it's also aged poorly. This could and should have been so much more.

Boring movie

[satyakvv · 2/10 · 28 November 1998]

I have never seen such a stupid movie.. There is absolutely nothing interesting to see.. There is nothing about the forest too..

Beautiful

[tsolbakken-1 · 8/10 · 4 February 2009]

I admit I was a bit doubtful on whether Mika Kaurismaki could do a great movie that was most definitely not placed in Finland. Well, he could. As in his other movies, this is a quiet, calm and reflecting movie. I guess you could compare the particular style of this movie to Tarkovskij or Aki Kaurismaki. There does not seem to be much dramatic happening on the surface, but still all the main characters are going through major changes. There's this confidence in the cinematography and dialogs that made this a great movie for me. Sure, none of the characters seem to be born with much to say, but when they say something it hits every time.