Il paese del sesso selvaggio

Plot synopsis:
John Bradley is a British journalist and photographer on vacation in Bangkok, Thailand. He is first seen taking photos and seeing the sights, until he arrives at a kickboxing match with a date. His date grows increasingly bored and disgruntled by Bradley's refusal to leave, until she finally walks out on him, which doesn't bother him in the slightest. An unidentified man sees her leave, and presumably upset over the disrespect shown towards the young woman, he follows Bradley to a bar where he confronts him with a knife. After a brief struggle, Bradley manages to turn the weapon against the man and kills him. Even though he killed in self defense, Bradley immediately flees the scene knowing the Thai authorities will arrest him and probally sentence him to death for the killing as a result of being a foreigner in their country.The next day, Bradley begins his trip deep into the rain forest first by traveling by train to a point several hundred miles north of Bangkok. At the train's stop, John rents a canoe and a guide to take him down a nearby river towards the Burma border. Still fearing that he'll be captured by the Thai authorities, he pays off the man to not mention their encounter. After rowing a ways and taking several wildlife photos, Bradley's guide, Tuan, mentions his concerns about traveling so far down river, which he reports as being dangerous. Bradley agrees to head back after one more day of traveling.That evening, Bradley falls asleep, and when he awakes the next day, he finds Tuan dead with an arrow in his throat. Before he has any chance to escape, a native Thai tribe captures him in a net and carries him to their village. The chief, Luhanà, is told that the group has captured a large fish-man. At the village, Bradley is hung in the net from a high pole, where a group of young children hit him with bamboo stalks. While hanging, Bradley witnesses the execution of two war criminals by his captive tribe. The tribe is at war with another, even more primitive Burmese tribe of cannibals, whom are named the Kuru. Two of the Kuru cannibals have their tongues cut off in the village center. Bradley reacts with disgust, labeling the tribe as murderers.Still in the net and hanging for hours, Bradley notices that he has attracted the attention of Marayå, the beautiful and naked daughter of the chief who takes an immediate fascination with the stranger. She convinces her father that John is not a fish-man, just a man. Luhanà agrees to release Bradley as Marayå's slave. He is forced to stay locked in a shack for hours, where Taima, Marayå's governess, introduces herself. She is a missionary child and can speak English, and tells Bradley that soon he will be released, as Marayå will be married to a fellow tribesman, named Karen, in ten days. Luhanà interrupts the two and unties Bradley because it is the day of the Feast of the Sun. During the feast, a helicopter flies overhead. Bradley tries to be rescued, but he is subdued by other warriors, who nearly kill him. Marayå intervenes, however, protecting her property. The helicopter gives John hope, and he plans escape, which Taima agrees to eventually help him with.A month or so passes, as Bradley grows even more tense. During one day of labor, a building accident kills a young man. Bradley watches the funeral ceremonies and is again shocked by the actions of the natives. During the ceremony, Taima tells Bradley that now is his time to escape. He does, but Karen and a group of warriors chase after him. They corner him at a waterfall, where Bradley kills Karen. Again a helicopter flies by, and again John goes unnoticed. After Karen's death, the tribe decides to incorporate Bradley as one of them. He faces various rituals and tortures until he is finally released and accepted as a warrior, and he uses his knowledge of modern technology and medicine to help the tribe, but, as a result, becomes an enemy of the tribe's witch doctor. During this time, he and Marayå begin to become fond of each other, until Marayå must choose a new fiancé. Of the tribe's warriors, Marayå chooses John Bradley, and the two are married. After the wedding, the two run into the wilderness where Bradley gets naked and has sex with Marayå. This ends up getting Marayå pregnant. During the conception, however, a black butterfly flew over the two lovers, a foreboding of ill fate.Six months after Bradley has been captured, he has finally accepted his new life with Marayå. However, this is also when the Burmese Kuru cannibals decide to strike. Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, are ambushed outside of the village by the Kuru. The girl is killed and the boy mortally wounded, but he still is able to inform the others of the attack before he dies. Bradley joins other warriors to eliminate the attack party, and they arrive to see the Kuru party consuming the young woman. The group attacks the cannibals, with Bradley participating in activities he earlier condemned. When Bradley returns, however, he learns that Marayå has fallen ill from the pregnancy and has been stricken blind. John believes the only way to save her is to take her back to civilization for modern medicinal treatment. Taima helps the two escape, but she is caught in doing so has her hand cut off as punishment. Bradley and Marayå are captured and forced to return to the village.Upon their return, Marayå goes into labor. Again Bradley rejects the witch doctor, sending him away from the ailing Marayå. At this time, the Kuru warriors return to attack the village. They set fire to many huts before John and the other warriors are able to react. In the ensuing and graphic climatic battle, Bradley takes Marayå to safety until the cannibals are fought back and withdraw. As John tries to comfort Marayå's pain, he points out a black butterfly overhead. Marayå then reveals the significance of the butterfly: death. Marayå finally gives birth, and dies shortly after. Bradley wanders aimlessly through the jungle upon his wife's death, only sadly recollecting memories of her. Again a helicopter flies overhead, and after a moment of contemplation, he takes cover with the rest of the tribe, deciding to stay with them, probably for life, to help them rebuild and live against the Kuru and the elements.

Tags: violence, cruelty, sadist, romantic

Review:
Umberto Lenzi's "Paese Del Sesso Selvaggio" (aka "Deep River Savages"/"The Man From Deep River") of 1972 is THE pioneering Italian Cannibal flick, and yet it is not necessarily a typical example for the sub-genre.
"Deep River Savages" is built up more like a traditional adventure movie - with the difference that this one features Cannibals.
This film mainly explores a Westerner's assimilation to a savage jungle tribe.On a trip through the unexplored jungle between Thailand and Burma, English photographer John Bradley (Ivan Rassimov) gets captured by a primitive tribe, who hold him prisoner for a while.
THE beauty of the sub-genre, Me Me Lai appeared in this film, as well as "Cannibal Ferox" and Deodato's "Ultimo Mondo Cannibale".
While "Cannibal Holocaust" is the only true masterpiece of the sub-genre, this one is also a highly interesting film that no lover of Italian Exploitation-cinema should consider missing.
The love story is a little far-fetched, but the film itself is quite enjoyable, except, once again for the real animal deaths.Not as good as either of Deodato's, but certainly better than Eaten Alive, Cannibal Apocalypse, or Trap Them and Kill Them..
Ivan Rassimov dances with savages in Umberto Lenzi's kick-start to the cannibal sub-genre!.
Umberto Lenzi was a diverse director, having made Giallo films, Italian crime films and some of the most notorious cannibal flicks, not to mention a whole host of other films with various sub-genres of horror.
Deep River Savages is the film that is often given credit for kicking off the whole cannibal tradition, and it's also a member of the British 'Video Nasty' list, which lead to it's banning in the eighties.
After enduring various tortures, he finds himself the object of affection for a dim-witted female member of the tribe, and when she chooses him as her husband; he soon realises that despite being bloodthirsty savages; these guys aren't all that bad...Ivan Rassimov is one of my favourite cult Italian actors, and he does well in this film as his rugged appearance fits the feel of the movie very well and this makes him believable in the lead role.
He is joined by his Last Cannibal World and Eaten Alive co-star Me Me Lai, whose appearance again helps the movie and the pair do actually bode quite well on screen together.
He finds adjusting to this new life to be surprisingly agreeable, especially when he becomes smitten with Maraya (Me Me Lai), the lovely daughter of the tribes' leader.Considered to the vanguard film in that jungle / cannibal genre popularized by the Italians, this is definitely a trail blazer, but people who've already seen more famous entries in the genre may be caught off guard with this one.
Deep River Savages represents Umberto Lenzi's first steps in the notorious field of cannibalism and jungle adventure movies.
Deep River Savages isn't half as gross as the title and DVD-cover leads you to believe and it basically is a social portrait mixed with an authentic love-story!
The plots of both movies are pretty much alike, the only differences are the setting and the fact Kevin Costner's film is praised all over the world while nobody has ever heard of Deep River Savages.
But, pretty soon he falls in love with the local beauty (Me Me Lai  who looks even better here than she did in Deodato's Jungle Holocaust) and marries her.
Deep River Savages also looks very cheap, amateurish and the cinematography isn't anywhere near as stunning as in other cannibal films.
Well....not really.....A photographer accidentally kills a man in self-defense and while retreating into the jungles of an Asian country, is captured by a native tribe who hold him captive, force him into slave labor, and eventually accept him when he marries the chief's daughter.
Lots of real animal mutilation is the one thing about DEEP RIVER that could make it a horror film, but even that doesn't execute well.THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER is good to see for those who want to see what started the cannibal subgenre, but as an entry in the genre, is easily eclipsed by Deodato's entries and even Lenzi's own later entries.
Although the movie has a script that leaves a lot to be desired, some truly atrocious dialogue, some sentences out of place, whatever, and some of the lead actor's words are too rushed (in little bits not spontaneous, as in the actors thought) this is just as good as Cannibal Holocaust.
Not the real sick horror show you expect, although there are some quite shocking and bloody moments, Man from Deep River isn't a bad outing.
Y'see it's all about this English fella, goes to Thailand to do a travelogue but then he accidentally kills this local fella and runs for it, which is a shame because he was enjoying the kickboxing."So he heads up river even though he's told not to and gets his guide killed, then gets captured by this tribe who think he's a fish, although he says "I'm a mannot a fish!" and they all want to kill him except the chief's daughter Me Me Lai, who keeps giving him the glad eye.
Deep River Savages is most famous for being the first of the Italian cannibal movies.
In that one a white man is captured by Native American Indians and has to go through various trials and rituals before finally assimilating into the tribe, Deep River Savages effectively does the same thing but with primitive South East Asian tribes.
He falls in love with one of the young women of the tribe; meanwhile an enemy tribe of cannibals prowl menacingly in the periphery.This one was helmed by Umberto Lenzi who was one of the most prominent directors of the cannibal sub-genre, going on to make films such as Eaten Alive.
The two main stars of that one appear in this earlier film too, namely Ivan Rassimov and Me Me Lai. They are pretty good and quite surprisingly their romantic sub-plot is quite extensively developed.
Although, this film dosen't necessarily focus on the cannibalism but more on character development and story.Basically, a man goes into the amazon and is captured by a vicious tribe.
Just like in my review of Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox, I just don't understand the use in killing animals on the screen for shock value.Altogether, this isn't a bad film but nowhere near as good as some of Lenzi's later work.
Man from Deep River is often credited as being the original movie in the Italian cannibal sub-genre that lasted from the early 70s to the early 80s, however this movie is quite different to those that came later.The story is pretty basic, a photographer is captured by a native tribe and forced into manual labour, helping build huts and work around the village.
He then becomes respected by the tribe, becoming one of them and falls in love with and marries the chief's daughter.You won't find much gore in this movie (except for the animal killings), only one person is eaten by cannibals and that scene is very brief.
There's more to see in Man from Deep River then just sex violence and gore like in most of what you get to see in the cannibal genre, this film started the genre and i must say it has it's moments.
It is more of a drama, with gore, about a photographer in the Thailand jungle who is captured and subsequently brought into the tribe where he has to marry the chief's daughter to stay alive.It also isn't a bad movie...The major trouble with the film is that it's all staged, which means the scene's of animal cruelty are real.
So the cockfight and the snake vs mongoose are real, though I'm unsure at to the decapitation of the monkey skull so they eat the brains, as there is a cut which may indicate they changed out for special effects - one can always hope.However, at the heart of the film is the change in John Bradley's (Ivan Rassimov) character from being a captive to a reluctant member of the tribe to a fully fledged tribe member, thrown into the mix is the love story between himself and Maraya (Me Me Lai).It's not a fantastic film though Umberto Lenzi directs nicely, though I think the steady pace is a little too slow at times.
The love story, which is more suited to this pace, at times could have made a decent "chick-flick" in its own right, though I don't think lovers of this style of film would enjoy the torture and cruelty aspects of the adventure..
Lenzi at least is capable of so far greater probably peaking at Spasmo and starting with Kiss Me Kill MeThe Hard Gore R2 DVD release may be cut at 86 minutes, but this movie contains one act of cannibalism and one victim - a scene with a native girl who is brutalised and disembowelled by the cannibal tribe we are warned of and who later set fire to some huts.
It is considered the first of the cannibal genre, although it is not strictly a cannibal film.The film features Ivan Rassimov and Me Me Lai, who both went on to do Jungle Holocaust and Eaten Alive!
However, it does feature several elements that would become staple to the cannibal genre: graphic blood 'n' guts, some nudity and rape, and a whole load of nasty violence perpetrated on poor innocent animals.Ivan Rassimov plays John Bradley, a photographer who travels up-river to the border of Thailand and Burma, only to be captured by a primitive tribe.
He is forced to be a slave, but eventually earns the villagers' respect, becomes a warrior and gets to have it away repeatedly with the chief's daughter (the beautifully exotic Me Me Lai).Director Umberto Lenzi, who would later bring us the infamous Cannibal Ferox and Eaten Alive (also starring Rassimov and Lai), delivers quite a restrained movie considering the excesses of some of his later work: the film moves at a leisurely pace, taking its time to develop the characters and story, only stopping occasionally to fling in a spot of rumpy-pumpy or a brutal animal slaying!
If you're at all interested cannibal genre, then the movie is recommended; it is interesting as a point of reference for later films but is also pretty entertaining in itself (particularly if you like very cute nekkid native chicks!).I give it 6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb. That's on about a par with Mountain of the Cannibal God and Cannibal Ferox, slightly better than Eaten Alive, but nowhere near as good as Cannibal Holocaust or Cannibal Apocalypse..
aka The Man from the Deep River aka Il paese del sesso selvaggio gave birth to the cannibal genre, sometimes referred to as Mondo films (the Italian word for "world" derived from a pre-existing Italian title that was released in the early '60's).
Lenzi himself has admitted that cannibalism was not the focus of Deep River Savages but after the film was dragged through the ringer and came out on the opposite end of a shameless marketing ploy, that's mostly what participants in the genre think of when they hear the title.
Directed by Italy's go-to-guy for cannibal sleaze, Umberto Lenzi ("Make Them Die Slowly") weaves in his share of exploitative and downright offensive elements (he can't get enough of *live* animals fighting/being cut apart) to tell the tale of an American photographer (Ivan Rassimov, sporting a bad blonde dye job) who stabs a surly bar patron while drunk, and flees up a river in the Philappines only to run afoul of a cannibal tribe.
Now, while Lenzi's subsequent efforts have celebrated the 'gore-to-profits' equation to success, "Deep River" has a surprisingly human story at its core--upon first glance, Rassimov is a prisoner seeking escape; but he eventually assimilates to the tribal culture and even weds one of the ladies (Me Me Lai).
Though not particularly well versed, I'd consider myself to currently be a big fan of Italian horror, and "Sacrifice!" is officially the first cannibal title I've seen, and let me say this wasn't 100% what I was expecting.The plot is simple enough, a British photographer while exploring the Thai/Burmese jungle gets captured by a native tribe and slowly starts to become absorbed into it.
John Bradley (Ivan Rassimov) a London based photographer is on assignment in Thailand, after accidentally killing a local thug and taking into account that he is blonde and over six foot, he goes on the run into the countryside where along with a local as his guide he travels north to Burma by boat to film underwater river life.
Inspired somewhat by A Man Called Horse and itself perhaps an inspiration for Dancing with Wolves, Man from Deep River is often touted as the first real cannibal film, its certainly one of the first to show the practice graphically.
The film though should not be compared to later gorefests like Lenzi's Cannibal Ferox or Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust, as it is much more restrained film that plays much more like a love story doomed to fail, that has cannibalism as a backdrop, even the de rigeur animal slayings seem to be there to further the plot, in fact it's a rather sad tale of tribal life, told well.
This appears to be more of a "Man called Horse" rip-off, Rassimov is captured by some tribe somewhere in Asia and has to go through some harrowing tests to be accepted, later he encounters some cannibals.
It's amazing that the relatively tame Man from Deep River spawned the whole Italian cannibal sub-genre.
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 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.
View on the film: For the film being shot on location,director Umberto Lenzi shows an undiscovered eye for "real" location filming,with almost all the scenes in the film from beginning to end having a tremendous,bright "pop",which makes the movie tantalising to watch,and also allowing Lenzi to fill the movie with his very distinctive "scattering" style,whilst smartly placing some calm moments in the film,that allow the actors to express a surprisingly strong bond between each other,in between Lenzi's dazzaling whip-pans and well-timed snappy editing.Originally bracing my self for the worst,I was stunned to find that the film had only a minimal amount of Cannibalisum,with it wisely instead focusing on John's increasingly strong relationship with the tribe.Looking at the most (in) famous element of the film,Lenzi thankfully does not (mostly) make the scenes of the animal killings that drawn out,with them instead moving at a pretty fast,"obsikal" pace, (although a scene near the end-involving a goat,did make me shiver ,due to it completely coming out of nowhere)giving the film a strong signal to the audience that if they able to handle the gathering of food scenes by the tribe,then the film will allow the audience to get a closer look at the bond between John and the tribe.Since my expectations of the film,were of it being an extremely aggressive gore fest,I had picked up a very cheap Swedish DVD of the film,which I was disappointed to find meant that I was not able to understand any of the words that the tribes people said in most of the scenes!.Astonashingly,this hardly ruined my enjoyment of the film,mostly thanks to the highly under-rated cast who all put in great performances,with each cast member of the tribe having distinctive characteristics,which express the feelings and emotions of them being part of an 'out cast' society in a way which works brilliantly without any words.During my viewing of this terrific film,a few moments in the other wise solid screenplay almost left me with a bitter taste from the film,mostly from John becoming uncharactriskly patronising to the tribe,in some oddly chosen moments.Stunningly,lead actors Ivan Rassimov and the beautiful Me Me Lay make the troubling moments in the film fade away,to become a distant memory,thanks to both of them giving performances which have a huge amount of unexpected warmth,with Rassimov brilliantly showing John develop feeling of compassion and love,whilst Lay shows Maraya as someone who instead of being closed-minded,is actually willing to open her life up,and take a look into the great unknown.
What I like about cannibal movies is that they always have daft plots, beautiful locations and loads of good looking women.
He takes a wife in Me Me Lay, but she is stricken blind after an attack by a rival tribe.Some of the violent footage was taken from this movie and used in Lenzi's third cannibal film "Eaten Alive".I found the acting, especially by Rassimov, to be outstanding, and the film as a whole is fascinating to watch.
This early cannibal outing from Umberto Lenzi is one of his better films, which actually boasts characterisation (gasp!) and a plot involving real people over mindless violence!
Me Me Lai, who starred in loads of films like this, is actually not bad either as Rassimov's bride.
Directed by Umberto Lenzi this is the film that is credited with starting the Italian cannibal film genre.
One thing Deep River Savages might have started is the trend to show real animal cruelty in these types of films.