This morning I spent a very lazy few hours in bed watching the John Boorman film The Emerald Forest. Starring Powers Boothe and Meg Foster, this stunning film is set in the Amazon rainforest where the Powers Boothe character’s young son is snatched away by an indigenous tribe, the Invisible People, leaving his parents to search for the boy for an agonizing ten years.
The young boy is raised by the tribe, marries a girl from a nearby tribe and is initiated into manhood by way of an ordeal involving imbibing the local hallucinogenic and entering a trance in which he discovers his totem animal; an eagle soaring high above the dense green foliage of the rainforest.
I’ve always liked Powers Boothe’s taciturn style of acting. I’ve only seen him in a few films, among which his spooky role as Jim Jones in the two-part drama depicting the Jonestown mass suicide. There seems to be a strange darkness behind that steely gaze which works well on the screen.
At one point an extremely annoying German press photographer accompanying Powers Boothe on yet another search for the lost boy is attacked and disposed of by the cannibalistic tribe of the Fierce People. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
As the story develops, father and son are reunited under very difficult circumstances, deep in the forest. It soon appears that the new boy’s life is with the tribe in the rainforest and the dad just needs to accept this inevitable fate.
The scenery as depicted in this beautiful film is engrossing and awe-inspiring and it is fascinating to get a slight insight into the life of the tribe of indigenous people living in the Amazon rainforest.
It’s not a recent film but if you’ve never seen it, it is well worth checking out.
4 comments:
I like Powers Boothe's voice, too, Lionheart. I have a real "thing" for voices and his really gets to me. LOL!
I'll have to check out this movie - haven't seen it yet. I've seen it listed on TV quite a bit lately but something always comes up that prevents me from sitting down and watching it. If nothing else, I'd like to have a look at the scenery.
signed: Catlady aka Pussy Willow
Ah..dear Catlady,
Yes, there definitely is something about the overall presence of Powers Booth (strange first name..), and indeed his dulcid booming voice. Did you see him in 'Southern Comfort'?
Wow, that's an oldie! It's been years since I've seen that one and I think it was the first time I had ever seen Powers Booth.
You really are a movie buff. You come up with some goodies!!
Catlady aka Pussy Willow
Ah.. yes. Some of the films I watch, or music I listen to has been around for a while. Long enough to prove its worth..
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