Jungle (2017)

[The Great Owl]

Since his Harry Potter days, actor Daniel Radcliffe has bravely chosen several unconventional movie roles that push the envelope of creativity for his career. When I learned that he would be playing the role of Yossi Ghinsberg in an adaptation of Ghinsberg's book, Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival, which I read 12 years ago, I jumped at the chance to see this film as soon as possible.

Jungle, which faithfully recounts its literary source, introduces us to Ghinsberg, who decided to pursue his dreams of seeing the world after serving in the Israeli Navy, and journeyed to South America in 1981. This film opens with his arrival in Bolivia, where he quickly makes the acquaintance of Marcus Stamm, a Swiss teacher, and Kevin Gale, a well-known American photographer. After a short while of carefree vacationing, these three arrive in La Paz and meet Karl Ruchprecter, a likable, but somewhat shady Austrian, who convinces them to follow him into the remote reaches of the Amazon jungle to search for gold.

After hiking through the jungle for several days, the four adventurers are beset by unexpected difficulties, and decide to split up, with Ruchprecter and Stamm opting to return on foot to La Paz, while Ghinsberg and Gale continue their journey by raft. A horrific near-death incident in the strong rapids of the river results in Ghinsberg being separated from his friend and left to his own devices in the unforgiving rainforest landscape for three weeks. His elaborate hallucinations and his encounters with parasitic worms, red ants, and quicksand are brought to life on the screen with a terrifying vividness.

Director Greg McLean, who has helmed two other vacation-gone-horribly-bad films that I hold in high esteem, Wolf Creek (2005) and Rogue (2007), puts his scary movie skills to good use here in this nonfiction survival story. Radcliffe gives his all, losing 14 pounds for the role in order to appear as the emaciated Ghinsberg, who was close to death after his weeks of jungle solitude. Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong), Alex Russell (Chronicle), and Joel Jackson are equally committed in their respective roles as Ruchprecter, Gale, and Stamm.

Most reviewers of Jungle seem to dismiss it as just another “stupid tourists doing stupid things in the wilderness” flick, so I am inclined to believe that one's enjoyment of this movie will be enhanced by a familiarity with Ghinsberg's true story. It also helps to remember that these events occurred in 1981, before the advent of popular wilderness adventure informational venues on the world wide web or chain outdoor adventure stores. I, for one, believe that this is a superbly engaging film that makes good on its promise of disturbing grittiness, while ultimately serving as an inspirational tale about the triumph of human resilience.

This Momentum Pictures Blu-ray presents a great-looking feature with an impressive audio presentation that accentuates the eerie jungle sounds late in the film.

The plentiful special features delve with detail into the challenges that the actors met while filming in the wilderness and the fascinating true background story that inspired this movie.