This is the second and final collaboration between director Christopher Cain, cinematographer Juan Ruiz Anchía, and composer James Horner. Two years earlier, these three men collaborated on one of the best 1980s dramas, "The Stone Boy". Although all the factors of that earlier film are present here, it's a very much different experience. "Where the River Runs Black" is a somewhat hybrid action/adventure/fantasy film, with enough acting power in front of the camera to make it dramatically compelling. Many fine performances appear throughout the story. Alessandro Rabelo, as the main character Lazaro is engaging. Charles Durning, Peter Horton, and Divana Brandão all give very committed performances. Durning lends depth and credibility to each word he speaks.Visually, this film is extremely well realized, though the VHS release gives somewhat less evidence of that (it's yet to be put out on DVD). Juan Ruiz Anchía creates many stunning sequences. There is a slow motion scene of Lazaro running through the rain that took my breath away. The visual sense of the film offers much to keep the viewer interested. On top of that, the music of James Horner constantly brings back themes of longing and beauty. It's a wonderful soundtrack.Overall, the story is a bit too disconnected to make this a truly great film. The many changes in pace and focus make it feel like many different films at once, and not necessarily to its benefit. For a children's film (though I hate to categorize something only as such), it is very good. The constant changes is style should keep kids interested. I certainly recommend "Where the River Runs Black", but it's not quite as believable is it should be, and not quite as balanced, even for a fantasy. It's certainly worth watching once, maybe twice. But wait for the DVD if you really want to see it as it was meant to be seen.

I haven't seen this movie for years, but it has always "haunted" me, and I have never been able to forget it. I have frequently looked for it on DVD, hoping to see it pop up in stores or on Amazon, but it is apparently only available online as used VHS. I don't own it in any form, so I am wondering what the latest news is as to a future release on DVD.Since I was very young, I have been a fan of jungle movies. Many of them have had shallow and silly plots, but this movie is about the human spirit's ability to survive. It is a beautiful story, and is visually stunning. It's right up there with "The Emerald Forest" which came out the same year.

"Where the River Runs Black" (1986 - 97 minutes), directed by Christopher Cain, is a beautiful adaptation for the cinema of the awarded novel "Lazaro", of David Kendall. The film mix religion and mysticism when tells the history of a boy created in the Amazonian forest that is taken to be educated in an orphanage. The tram starts when an American missionary, the idealistic priest Mahoney (the actor Peter Horton) - that works in the region where the waters of the River Amazon becomes black -, knows a mysterious and sensual woman. A child is born of this relation and Mahoney dies. The boy, Lazarus, is played by a 10 years old Brazilian boy, Alessandro Rabelo who carried out the film side by side to the experienced actor Charles Durning (priest O'Reilly). Educated in the forest, Lazarus develops a strange relation with the "botos" (dolphins of the Amazon River). Of the wonderful landscapes of the Amazonian forest to the dirty and hard urban scenes, the story of magical realism maintain its attraction due to the delirious photograph of Juan-Ruiz Anchia. Entirely filmed in Brazil, the film had the participation of some Brazilian technicians and actors as Marcos Flaksman, Chico Diaz and Ariel Coelho

It starts with a touch of awesome music and a priest making his way to give his confession to another priest. The story is his confession. He tells how he feels he has sinned against God, by allowing an event to take place. Lazaro is a young boy, raised dolphins in the jungle, after his mother is raped and killed (before his very eyes), by wicked men! The priest (Charles Durning) befriends Lazaro and tries to make the boy civilized. But Lazaro is vengeful toward the men who killed his mother, and has the opportunity to strike back!