''Amazon'' is a 1990 drama that was directed by the Finnish film director

Mika Kaurismäki Mika Juhani Kaurismäki (; born 21 September 1955) is a Finnish film director. Biography Mika Kaurismäki is the elder brother of Aki Kaurismäki, and the father of Maria Kaurismäki, who graduated from Tampere School of Art and Media in 200 ...

, who co-wrote the script with Richard Reitinger and John Reaves, the latter of whom contributed additional writing. The movie premiered at the

Toronto Festival of Festivals The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

in September 1990. While shooting the movie Kaurismäki tried to minimize the movie and crew's impact on the environment, which he tried to minimize by choosing equipment that would have the least impact on 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 ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

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

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

, urged on Dan, an American

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

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 an airplane accident that kills Dan and leave 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 Kari Kyösti Väänänen (born 17 September 1953 in Ivalo) is a Finnish actor and director. Domestically he is a member of the Ryhmäteatteri group of actors. He was introduced to international audiences by Aki Kaurismäki, and belongs to the li ...

as Kari *

Robert Davi Robert John Davi (born 1953) is an American actor, singer and filmmaker. Over the course of his acting career, Davi has performed in more than 130 films. Among his most known roles are opera-singing heavy Jake Fratelli in ''The Goonies'' (1985), ...

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 Pirkko Päivikki Hämäläinen (born 29 May 1959) is a Finnish actress. She has worked in theatres, films and on television. Frequently collaborating with director Mika Kaurismäki, she won the Best Actress Jussi Award for her role in Kaurismäk ...

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

Critical reception has been mixed. In his review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' film critic

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as 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 ...

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 Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' 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