The Emerald Forest

The Emerald Forest is a 1985 British film set in the Brazilian Rainforest. It was directed by John Boorman and written by Rospo Pallenberg. It is based on a true story. The film was screened out of competition at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.

When the film opens, Markham has taken his family to the edge of the forest for a picnic to show them the jungle and the progress of the dams construction. The site is abuzz with workers and machines cutting and clearing, but is situated right on the edge of a vast expanse of dense and unexplored Amazon terrain. His young son, Tommy, aged seven, wanders from the cleared area to just inside the treeline where he amuses himself by feeding his picnic snacks to the large jungle ants. It is then that an Indian from one of the indigenous tribes known as the Invisible People notices him, and is struck by the boys blonde hair and bright green eyes, which are the colour of the forest. Tommy sees the tribesman, who smiles warmly at him and speaks softly in his language. Young Tommy then runs out of the treeline to inform Markham that the jungle is full of smiling people but his father laughs him off skeptically, telling him hell be right there to check it out. When Tommy returns to the treeline just ahead of Markham, the tribesman decides that it is unfair to leave the child with these strange people, who, in his opinion, are destroying the world. He abducts the child. As Markham realises his son has just been taken, a warning shot from an unseen archer lands in a tree near his head. Regardless of the arrow, Markham pursues them, calling upon all the nearby construction workers to help. Frantically hacking his way through the undergrowth, Markham comes to a ridge in a clearing that reveals before him an endless valley of dense jungle. His son is gone.The story jumps ahead some ten years. The dam is nearing completion. Tommy, or Tomme as he is now called, has become part of the tribe that he lives with, adopting their language, culture and way of life. The tribesman who took him is revealed to be the chief of the Invisible People, and has taken Tomme for his own son. Tomme is depicted going through rituals of manhood and courtship, becoming involved with a beautiful member of

Source: Wikipedia