Keep The River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale

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Still the explorer, he now plumbs the depths of his own fears and frailties.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B><I> Keep the River on Your Right</I> is generally regarded as a documentary film, but it is described by <B>Talk Cinema's</B> Harlan Jacobson as "reality based filmmaking." I see it as a memoir also, as it's based on Tobias Schneebaum's 1968 book of the same name.</div> <bR> <div> We are introduced to Schneebaum in 1999, at age 78, leading a productive and stimulating life in NYC; utilizing his knowledge as an anthropologist. He talks to Barnard students at a museum exhibit he helped to establish, regarding the Asmat culture and his experiences in the Peruvian jungle. One of the first questions asked, "How do humans taste?" He lectures to tourists on board a cruise ship in New Guinea. He translates as several young boys, lining the shore, are ceremonially circumcised, as the tourists wade in the water for a better camera angle. Who indeed has the prurient interests here? </div> <bR> <div> At one point Schneebaum describes tourists as "… curious onlookers," whereas, "An explorer stays and looks and learns."   </div> <bR> <div> Tobias Schneebaum certainly has done that. As an artist in the 1950's he received a Fulbright to paint in Peru. The culture fascinated him and he found himself climbing the ruins at Machu Picchu, and rendering drawings of artifacts and the people he saw. He went in search of a remote mission deep in the jungle that he heard about. His directions for locating the mission and the Indians living near it were, "Keep the river on your right." So he was off, no special outdoor gear, just tennis shoes on his feet and a passion to learn. </div> <bR> <div> This film allows Schneebaum to rekindle that passion, though somewhat reluctantly. The brother and sister writing and directing team of David and Laurie Gwen Shapiro encouraged and cajoled him into revisiting his past. We get the distinct impression that the psychological and emotional qualms outweigh the fear of the physical rigors of traveling back into the jungle. </div> <bR> <div> As we drift along the Amazon with Schneebaum on this journey, he recounts how he lived with the Asmat people for several months and participated fully in their rituals and sexual practices. Being an acknowledged homosexual he found the male to male relationships particularly satisfying. In the film he is reunited with a former lover, Aipit, and their obvious love for each other, to this day, is touching. </div> <bR> <div> The other experience, cannibalism, alluded to in the subtitle, is dealt with head on (pun intended), when Schneebaum remembers his time with the headhunters. He lived with the group for several months, observing their everyday lives. Schneebaum claims he did not know that they were going on a raid to kill other tribesmen that night. He was horrified. When it was his turn to eat he took a small bite of something; he was living on their terms. But the experience changed his life, and the next day Schneebaum says he left and began his trek back to civilization. He had always looked at himself as, "…a human being, able to make contact with others." The experience haunts him still.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: At the beginning of the film Schneebaum's world of today is viewed with a "fish eye" lens. The mundane, shopping for groceries, living quietly in a book-lined NY apartment. He's had a bout with cancer and a hip replacement. This strikes me as perhaps the distorted portion of his life.</div> <bR> <div> Near the end of the film, as Schneebaum floats languorously, lost in thought, along the river, he reflects on "coming full circle," with his memories. The cannibalism was just a small part of his life and according to him, happened only once. Obviously, it's the episode that sticks most in people's minds. A memoir allows one to have selective memory as you contemplate the past.</div> <bR> <div> And speaking of the past, look out for some vintage footage of Schneebaum being interviewed by Charlie Rose and appearing on the <I>Mike Douglas Show.</I> You might be surprised by who got the better interview.  </div> <bR> <div> The music in <I>Keep the River on Your Right</I> lends just the right tone. At times there is a pulsating undercurrent to the story being revealed. Then there's the overlay of sound surrounding the river and the jungle. </div> <bR> <div> I would like to have seen more exploration of the man Schneebaum is now. He stopped painting many years ago, but he still does pen and ink drawings. At nearly 80 his mind is clear and his wit is in tact. He has a passion for life, yet he reveals his fears and a certain frailty. Where once he walked confidently, with only tennis shoes, he's now assisted and afraid he might fall. True to form though he says "If I have a heart attack on Machu Picchu, so be it!"  </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div>   R (mature thematic material)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Pam Singleton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>pam@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Laurie Gwen Shapiro: Debut</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> David Shapiro: Debut</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>