Amazonia: Movie Review

Amazonia: Movie Review

Cast: A capuchin monkey, the rain forest and all that dwell within
Director: Thierry Ragobert

A plane crashes in the forest, the sole survivor is trapped in a cell, but makes an escape - only to have to traverse strange foreign climes with no idea of what danger is lurking around the next corner.

It all sounds very familiar, doesn't it?

Yet this film has a unique MO to a tale which is all too familiar - its protagonist is a capuchin monkey with the most expressively natural face committed to celluloid in a long while. (Discounting those damned dirty apes from San Fran earlier in the year or since Marcel annoyed Ross).

With nary a line of dialogue and only the natural parameters of the Amazonian rain-forest and all who dwell within to bring it to some form of vivid life, Amazonia is an interesting hybrid of survival story and nature documentary.

From toucans hurling discarded half-eaten fruit at the monkey to various bugs filmed in extreme close up, Ragobert's created something wildly unique and at times, strangely compelling, as the monkey's story is crushed into the usual survival tropes and human type situations.

It's the lush contours of the Amazon rain forest and the life within which makes Amazonia worth your time; younger audiences will be enlightened by this foray into a microscopic world we're unlikely to experience - and older adults will be impressed at its brevity, if they can stomach the pro-environmental message that is threaded through.

All in all, Amazonia works as a window into a world we're unlikely to glimpse and for an animal star who's likely to delight and amuse as he takes on his most dangerous role ever.

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