Published via Ecency

(source: tmdb.org)

If films are to be rated solely on noble intentions of its authors, Fire on the Amazon, 1993 adventure drama directed by Luis Llosa, could have been viewed as masterpiece. The plot is set in Bolivian jungle where the progress of civilisation and economic trends that come with it recently turned various social groups against each other. Indian tribes want to preserve the jungle and their traditional way of life, which put them at odds with rubber tappers who are in conflict with logging industry that wants to cut down trees, while rich ranchers want entire forests gone in order to have grazing grounds for future food in McDonalds’ restaurants. Rafael Santos (played by Eduardo Cesti) is charismatic leader of rubber tappers whose political skills and Ghandi-like methods have managed to unite some of the factions against ranchers. When Santos gets killed, the government claims that the perpetrators were Indians. R. J. O’Brien (played by Craig Shaeffer) is American photojournalist who comes to Bolivia to investigate the story. He receives aid from environmental activist Alyssa Rothman (played by Sandra Bullock) with whom he would start romantic relationship.

Fire on the Amazon was originally produced in 1990, in a time when environmental issues, including concerns over the future of Amazon rainforest and catastrophic consequences of its disappearance, began to get attention of world’s public. The more immediate inspiration for the script by Luana Andres, Catherine Cyran and Beverly Gray were true events related to 1988 murder of Brazilian rubber tapper and activist Chico Mendes (who would be later played by Raul Julia in 1994 biopic The Burning Season). The film was produced by New Horizons, studio led by legendary B-film producer Roger Corman who in the past, apart from making notable films himself, became mentor for directors like Coppola and Scorsese. Their Peruvian director Luis Llosa who would later have some success with films like Sniper and Anaconda, obviously lacked talents of those two and even with them he would have problems handling low budget and lack of focus in the script. Fire on the Amazon is at odds whether it wants to be a serious politically charged drama, thriller or simple exploitation film. Financial and other issues led to the film being released three years after completion and mostly in the realms of home video.

Fire on the Amazon became quite obscure and it would have remained so if not for one detail. One member of the cast was Sandra Bullock, at the time unknown actress who, when asked, reluctantly agreed to appear in sex scene, which was ultimately so “steamy” that the studio had to make cuts in order to please MPAA censors and avoid NC-17 rating. When the film was originally released, Bullock was still unknown, but only a year later her role in Speed made her a star. By the end of the decade Bullock became queen of Hollywood romantic comedies, with the image of “girl next door” making her one of the most likeable personalities of world cinema. Corman, however, tried to exploit her popularity by reissuing the film and making the marketing based around the infamous sex scene, the only one of Bullock’s career. Bullock tried very hard to prevent new distribution of the film, but failed. Fire on the Amazon, apart from satisfying curiosity of the certain male segments of her fan base, doesn’t serve much purpose and it could be best described as film that have been made for right, but it is ultimately remembered for wrong reasons.

RATING: 3/10 (+)