John Boorman's The Emerald Forest is the kind of exotic, intoxicating, wildly adventurous, unbelievable and unforgettable film that comes along once in a decade, if that. These days this sort of film would be gilded to the hilt with unnecessary Cgi, a burden which filmmakers just can't seem to free themselves from in this age. Back in 1985, they had to use what they had, filling every frame with on-location authenticity, genuine realism which prompts a feeling of wonder and sense of mysticism from the viewer, which any computer generated effort just cannot compete with (I will concede that this year's The Jungle Book came up aces, so there are a few cutting edge exceptions). This film is quite the undertaking for both cast and crew, and one can see from scene to scene the monumental effort and passion that went into bringing this story to life. It's also partly based on true events, adding to the resonance. Powers Boothe plays technical engineer Bill Markham, who is living with his wife (Meg Foster) and two small children in Brazil, while he designs plans for a great river dam which will allow further development. One day, on a picnic at the edge of the rainforest, his son Tommy disappears, after spotting an elusive tribe of Natives. Gone with no trace but an arrow lodged in a nearby tree, Bill launches a search for his son that spans a decade, returning year after year to probe the vast, untamed jungle in hopes of somehow finding Tommy. Tommy, now a young man and played by the director's son Charley Boorman, has been adopted and raised by the kindly tribe, known as 'The Invisible People' for they way they remain unseen as they move about their home in the forests. Tommy is very much one of them, taken up their customs and traditions, with nothing but vague memories of Bill in his dreams, which he doesn't believe to have actually happened. One day in the hostile territory of 'The Fierce People', Tommy and Bill are reunited, Tommy taking his wounded father to his home village. Bill is heartbroken that his son is essentially no longer his, conflicted by the situation. Tommy has just entered his life as a man, taking a gorgeous wife (Dira Paes) from his village and starting a future. Trouble brews as The Fierce People threaten Tommy's village, and their women, prompting him to seek Bill's help. It's interesting to see how a tribe who have had little to no contact with the outside world react to it, calling it 'the dead world' and referring to the developers as the Termite People who cut down the grandfather trees. The environmental message is never preachy, always feeling like a vital and important truth that is organic and unforced, emerging through the characters and their interactions. The Natives possess an innate spirituality and connection to the intangible which we have forgotten as progress alters us, still rooted deeply in forces beyond our 21st century comprehension. Boothe is deeply affecting in one of his best roles, a desperate father through and through, while also filling out the broad shoes of the wilderness adventurer he has become over the years. He fills his performance with pathos, longing and is the emotional soul of the piece. Boorman is spry and takes up the aura of Tommy well, mastering the complex linguistics and mannerisms of the tribe admirably. One of my favourite aspects of the film is its exquisite and moving score, the main theme evoking wild romanticism, old world secrets and the unending beauty of nature so well that one feels goosebumps as if we're really there in that setting. Pure cinematic magic, a timeless story told without flaw or hitch, and a breathtaking piece of film.

Films like this set in areas of the world that 98% of the civilized population will never ever visit should be taken as a possibility, not as fact. You would have to live with them for years, possibly decades, to fully understand what they learned from birth. This John Boorman film set in the slowly dissolving jungles of Brazil shows two alleged tribes: the fairly peaceful invisible people and the much more radical, violent, fierce people. It's not beyond the mind of the head of the Fierce People to stick his finger in a bullet hole in one of his own people, and taste the blood. It's a disgusting scene that I don't know to be based on fact, but made me turn my head away. Future two pictures of them show them as violent towards any strangers, although the character played by Powers Boothe who visits them manages to get away while searching for his long-missing son.

The invisible people are not so silent, yet they live in harmony even though there are parts of their civilization that the outside world would consider barbaric. However, it's their civilization, and this film asks the question should outsiders go in for any reason? The story focuses on Boothe and wife Meg Foster discovering that their young son has disappeared in the jungle which Boothe is helping to evaporate so he can build a dam. It's obvious that their young son has been taken deliberately, and he is raised as one of the invisible people, falling in love with one of the ative girls. By chance Boothe finds him (or actually, they find each other),and somehow the teenager dose at this strange-looking man is his real father. He rescues him from the attacks of the fierce people, and helped him escape back to civilization.

This film will always be highly regarded for its beautiful photography, shots of wild animals and natural scenes of the Jungle, yet not working on showing the violence of that kind of life. When the survivors of the invisibles (after an attack by the fierce) head into civilization, it's obvious that they would be greatly abused by the civilized ones, something shown with some civilized members of the medical profession treating some young abducted indigenous young people, being forced against their wealth to change the way they live. It's obvious that Boothe and Foster just need to let the sun go, seeing this as being his destiny, but at least getting a nice goodbye. Quite a beautiful movie, but often disturbing.

The American engineer Bill Markham (Powers Boothe) moves with his wife Jean Markham (Meg Foster) and children to Amazonas to work in the construction of a dam. When he brings his son Tommy to the site forest, the boy is abducted by the tribe of the Invisible People and brought to rain forest. Bill spends ten years seeking out Tommy in the forest. When he finally meets Tommy, he is an Indian and does not want to leave his tribe and return to the civilization. But when Tommy's mate Kachiri (Dira Paes) and the women of his tribe are kidnapped by a gang of white slaves to work in a brothel in the forest, Tommy searches Bill in the big city to help his tribe to rescue the female Indians.

"The Emerald Forest" is a fictional ecological adventure by John Boorman. The plot is entertaining and it is laughable to read absurd such as "based on a true story". The Brazilian Indians have been burying their dead for centuries as part of the work of the missionaries. The habit of burning and eating the ashes is before the arrival of the missionaries. The destruction of the forest is a reality provoked by farmers and overseas companies with economical interest in our wood. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Floresta das Esmeraldas" ("The Emerald Forest")