Blu-ray Review – The Emerald Forest

In a long career of strange but absorbing cinema, 1985's "The Emerald Forest" is one of John Boorman's more straightforward efforts. A take on the action/adventure genre, the picture doesn't follow a traditional path of violent excess, electing to provide a more meaningful journey between spasms of violence. The subject presented here is the Amazon rainforest and the indigenous people within, finding the movie passionate in its communication of oncoming ecological and tribal disaster. Of course, there's gunplay and high stakes involved, along with an emotional undercurrent of parental ache, but "The Emerald Forest" is primarily focused on screen immersion, following Boorman's interests in native rituals and interaction, respectful of culture as he tends to more obvious beats of storytelling. The feature doesn't deliver on pulse-pounding suspense, but it offers something different, showing concern for characters and fragile surroundings. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com