Jonathas works with his family selling fruit in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. His brother Juliano rarely lends a hand and prefers to have fun, much to his father’s infuriation. Jonathas leaves with his brother for a camping trip deep into the jungle and meets Milly, a Ukrainian-American student. Livid with anger, the father sets off to find them.
With its simple narrative and stylised mise en scène, Jonathas’ Forest is nonetheless full of surprises. Sergio Andrade slides from one subject to another without losing the thread of his film, and shows us the moral and physical hardships of living in some of Brazil’s isolated regions.
M.M.
