''Amazon'' is a 1990 drama that was directed by the Finnish film director Mika Kaurismäki, who co-wrote the script with Richard Reitinger, with John Reaves contributing additional writing. The movie premiered at the Toronto Festival of Festivals in September 1990. While shooting the movie Kaurismäki tried to minimize its and the crew's effect on the environment by choosing equipment that would have the least impact to the shooting location, the surrounding areas, and its inhabitants.

Synopsis

The film centers upon a Finnish businessman named Kari and his two daughters. The trio has gone to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, where he decides to investigate the possibility of starting a gold mining operation in the nearby

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

, urged on by Dan, an American

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

interested in entering a business arrangement with Kari. He's warned against this by a local woman, Paola, who tells him that mining would have disastrous repercussions on the jungle and its inhabitants. The two begin to fall in love and Kari starts to doubt his plans. However, before he can truly act on these concerns with his prospective business partner, Kari and Dan are involved in a plane crash that kills Dan and leaves Kari terribly wounded. He's nursed back to health by a rainforest tribe, after which he returns to his daughters and Paola.

Cast

* Kari Väänänen as Kari * Robert Davi as Dan *

Rae Dawn Chong Rae Dawn Chong (born February 28, 1961) is a Canadian-American actress. She made her big screen debut appearing in the 1978 musical drama film ''Stony Island (film), Stony Island'', and in 1981 starred in the fantasy film ''Quest for Fire (film), ...

as Paola *Minna Sovio as Nina *Aili Sovio as Lea *Ruy Polanah as Julio Cesar * Pirkko Hämäläinen as Susanne *Expedito Barreira as Dealer *Luis Otavio as Money Changer *Sidney Martins as Thief *Ana Mel as Black Whore *Abimael Tosin as First Flight Customer

Reception

''Amazon's'' critical reception has been mixed. In his review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', film critic

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...

wrote that ''Amazon'' "is not the most exciting movie ever made, but it doesn't push. It is laid back. The flora and fauna are interesting and the cast is attractive." '' Variety'' was mixed, stating "Visually film is always stimulating but storytelling is wildly uneven, and director Mika Kaurismaki has an uncertain command of pic's tone. Acting is okay." Pietari Kääpä commented upon the movie in his 2012 book ''Directory of World Cinema: Finland'', calling it an "environmentally aware film" while also stating "In ''Amazon'', we are made privy to a clear environmentalist argument about the need to preserve the Amazonian rainforest. But, simultaneously, it maintains many of these problematic binaries, such as humanity's exploitative relationship with nature."

Awards

* Jussi Award for Best Sound Recording (1991, won)

References

External links

* {{Mika Kaurismäki 1990 films English-language Brazilian films English-language Finnish films English-language German films English-language French films 1990s Finnish-language films 1990s Portuguese-language films Films set in Brazil 1990 drama films American multilingual films Finnish multilingual films Brazilian multilingual films American drama films Brazilian drama films Finnish drama films French drama films German drama films 1990s English-language films 1990 multilingual films 1990s American films 1990s French films 1990s German films 1990s Brazilian films English-language drama films Portuguese-language American films 1990s Finnish films