adonis98-743-186503
An orphaned boy who was raised in the Amazon jungle is brought back to civilization by a priest who knows his father. Where the River Runs Black was a bit interesting but still disappointing, it's storyline is a mix between Tarzan meets Mowgli so it pretty much lacks creativity and that's kind of sad since we're talking for a 1986 film so it's pretty damn old right? The movie also has a very slow pacing that makes it even harder for me to follow it closely and as far as perfomances go? I wasn't emotionaly driven with any of the actors or their characters as a whole, definitely a very big disappointment especially for such an old movie that were talking about. (3/10)
taubah54
I first saw this film on the Arts and Entertainment channel (A&E) in the 1960s when i was teaching in Montserrat. The next time it was screen i made sure my students saw it. What a wonderful experience! Since then, I periodically search Amazon.com in the hope that some company will have put it into DVD format. If anyone knows where it is available on DVD please send me a message. And those of you who haven't seen it, it's well worth your time. The film centers around issues that are so much in focus these days. We see the relationship between the Church and the indigenous people- the clash between both cultures. There is also the very topical issue of the exploitation of the Amazon environment and the relationship between the boy and river. The nature child learns that human civilization also has some lethal crocodiles. The script is beautiful and all the performances are excellent.
Paulo R. C. Barros
"Where the River Runs Black" (1986 - 97 minutes), directed by Christopher Cain, is a beautiful adaptation for the cinema of the awarded novel "Lazaro", of David Kendall. The film mix religion and mysticism when tells the history of a boy created in the Amazonian forest that is taken to be educated in an orphanage. The tram starts when an American missionary, the idealistic priest Mahoney (the actor Peter Horton) - that works in the region where the waters of the River Amazon becomes black -, knows a mysterious and sensual woman. A child is born of this relation and Mahoney dies. The boy, Lazarus, is played by a 10 years old Brazilian boy, Alessandro Rabelo who carried out the film side by side to the experienced actor Charles Durning (priest O'Reilly). Educated in the forest, Lazarus develops a strange relation with the "botos" (dolphins of the Amazon River). Of the wonderful landscapes of the Amazonian forest to the dirty and hard urban scenes, the story of magical realism maintain its attraction due to the delirious photograph of Juan-Ruiz Anchia. Entirely filmed in Brazil, the film had the participation of some Brazilian technicians and actors as Marcos Flaksman, Chico Diaz and Ariel Coelho
Robert Vann Smith
It was about a year or so after the release of this movie before I was able to see it. It's amazing how the human spirit can survive, no matter where this body of our's lives. The scenery was beautiful and the story line was wonderfully done.The two brothers that played "Lazaro" (Alessandro And Marcelo Rabelo) do a remarkable job playing "Lazaro" at two different ages. I can see why they casting director chose both of them. Remarkably, they favor each other very much.
AD
