Man from Deep River (1972)

- Il paese del sesso selvaggio
For a "cannibal" film, it's surprisingly touching and sad, 18 June 2006

It's amazing that the relatively tame Man from Deep River spawned the whole Italian cannibal sub-genre. I use the word "tame" because in comparison to other similar films it's just that – tame. Sure, there are a few scenes of over-the-top cannibal violence and real animal deaths, but they are not the focus of the movie. The scenes of violence that give the Man from Deep River its notoriety could have been excluded and the movie would have probably been just as good. The main benefit to the movie of these scenes is to provide a sense of realism.

The main plot concerns a man who at first is held prisoner by a primitive tribe only to become accepted by the tribe and, in turn, accept the tribe as his own. Other commentators have spoken of the movie's similarity to something like Dances with Wolves and it's an accurate comparison. Ivan Rassimov is quite good in the Kevin Costner role. Other than his incredibly bad dye job that remains with him throughout the film even though at least a year of time passes, he's believable. A pre-boob job Me Me Lai has the Mary McDonnell role. She not the greatest actress you'll ever see, but at least here she does look more authentic as a native than she does in later cannibal films with her perfect make-up and over inflated chest. The rest of the cast, made up of locals and real tribes-people, are surprisingly effective.

Another surprise is the way Lenzi allows the relationship between Rassimov and Me Me to grow believably throughout the movie. Too often, films like Man from Deep River just expect the viewer to accept the fact that the best looking native woman immediately and without reason falls for the white male intruder. The relationship in Man from Deep River is interesting and a far cry from what you'll find in other cannibal films. For what is essentially an early 70s Italian exploitation film, it's actually quite touching and sad.

6/10