John Boorman's 1985 Film The Emerald Forest
Emerald Forest
John Boorman's 1985 film "The Emerald Forest" begins with the point of view of a white family out on a picnic. Bill Markham (Powers Boothe) is the supervisor of a dam construction site on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, which looms menacingly. He warns his children to stay out of the forest, since there are dangerous things inside it. By the end of the film, the point of view becomes entirely reversed. It is the forest that is the safe haven and it is the outside "civilized" world that is savage.
His son Tommy (played by Charley Boorman, the director's son) strays into the forest where he meets several members of the "Invisible People," including the chief. They take him with him back into the deep forest, while his distraught parents organize the construction workers into a search party. …show more content…
Clad only in a loin-cloth, he has become "Tomme." Side by side with his new father, the chief (Rui Polonah), he is learning the fine points of hunting and fishing with a bow and arrow. As it turns out, the chief had taken pity on the boy and spirited him away from the "Termite People." He decided that he would be better off in "the World," as the "Invisible People" describe the rainforest. The "Termite People" are like insects since they have been tearing down the big trees.
Tommy's father has never lost hope that he can discover his son and organizes an expedition into the heart of the rainforest. He runs into a war-party of the "Fierce People," who pursue him. He eventually lies exhausted near a river, after having been wounded by one of their spears. There he meets his son, who manages to rescue him from his attackers. The two make their way back to the "Invisible People's"
John Boorman's 1985 film "The Emerald Forest" begins with the point of view of a white family out on a picnic. Bill Markham (Powers Boothe) is the supervisor of a dam construction site on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, which looms menacingly. He warns his children to stay out of the forest, since there are dangerous things inside it. By the end of the film, the point of view becomes entirely reversed. It is the forest that is the safe haven and it is the outside "civilized" world that is savage.
His son Tommy (played by Charley Boorman, the director's son) strays into the forest where he meets several members of the "Invisible People," including the chief. They take him with him back into the deep forest, while his distraught parents organize the construction workers into a search party. …show more content…
Clad only in a loin-cloth, he has become "Tomme." Side by side with his new father, the chief (Rui Polonah), he is learning the fine points of hunting and fishing with a bow and arrow. As it turns out, the chief had taken pity on the boy and spirited him away from the "Termite People." He decided that he would be better off in "the World," as the "Invisible People" describe the rainforest. The "Termite People" are like insects since they have been tearing down the big trees.
Tommy's father has never lost hope that he can discover his son and organizes an expedition into the heart of the rainforest. He runs into a war-party of the "Fierce People," who pursue him. He eventually lies exhausted near a river, after having been wounded by one of their spears. There he meets his son, who manages to rescue him from his attackers. The two make their way back to the "Invisible People's"