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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2001)
apri 2 Q. 2001 FILMS The tribe has spoken Fascinating documentary profiles a real man-eater 3 « t \ ! \ Tobias Schneebaum (inset) revisits his tribal ways K eep the R iver on Y our R ight A rising star in the 1950s New York art scene, Tobias Schneebaum decided to leave society and its trappings behind him. Journeying to Peru in 1955, he eventually found his way down a river to a tribe of natives known as the Amere- kain. Although he always felt like the tribe was keeping him as some kind of mascot, he nonethe less felt at home in the primitive culture, until one hunting party turned into something deadlier. When his “friends” attacked another tribe and slaughtered their men, Schneebaum knew he had crossed a threshold, but it wouldn’t be his last. After taking part in a cannibalistic dinner, he stole out of the village, intending never to return. T he amateur anthropologist still didn’t feel at ease in polite society, however, so he depart ed for New G uinea (now Indonesia) in the 1970s. There, he was adopted by another tribe— this one noncannibalistic— and discov ered homosexuality was not just accepted but commonplace. A lthough he found a lover for a time, he eventually left the A sm at as well, returning to the “civilized" world. Keep the River on Your Right (playing through April 26 at C in em a 21) is the award winning documentary about Schneebaum ’s lat est journeys into the wilds. T h e frail 78-year- old lectures at museums and on tourist cruise ships that travel to Indonesia. The filmmakers (brother and sister David Acapulco s Gold D 9 / PorHwvl s B G ST iTWganfa Over 3 0 T eludasi Shapiro and Laurie Gwen Shapiro) press Schneebaum to return to the land of the Asmat, where he is reunited with his for mer lover. Later, against his protestations, the crew wheedles the artist into returning to Peru to face the ghosts of his memories. A s presented in the film, Schnee baum is a fascinating study in contrasts. A s clips from old programs such as The Mike Douglas Show reveal, he was as can did about his homosexuality as he was about his brief cannibalism. Having writ ten several books about his experi ences— including a children’s book!— he is comfortable with his story in front of the camera; it is when forced by the film makers to reunite with his past lovers and tribespeople that the resolve and disarming practiced patter disappear. Keep the River on Your Right is a well- produced documentary that peels back the cover on one man’s fascinating life. It allows Schneebaum— and the audience— to feel the love that transcends race, class and culture and to confront the nightmares of past actions. In total, it proves the old saying “You can never go home again” is untrue; he returns to "our” world and his life, but the cultural experiences of his past always will be with him. — Andy Mangels Nico and D ani F rom the moment teen-age Nico (Jordi Nico (left) and Dani— growing up is hard to do Vilches) comes on screen, his limbs impos Technically, it’s well-made, and several of the sibly skinny, his chest concave— hell, he makes Calista Hockhart look fat— he is off- actors acquit themselves nicely (although the subtitles distract from the acting). Lots of excep putting. He unsuccessfully tries to charm an tional vistas take advantage of the rural Spanish older woman on the train to a small Spanish vil countryside. And the final message of the film is lage where his friend Dani (Fernando Ramallo, positive and doesn’t seem likely for any U .S. film. looking like a much-younger Ryan Phillippe) However, for me, the positives in the film were lives, then brags to Dani that his large Adam ’s far outweighed by the negatives. Nico and Dani apple shows women he’s well-endowed. might appeal to some audiences, but I’m not sure Dani goes along with Nico’s strutting attempts I’d be comfortable ever seeing it again. — AM to get laid before his 17th birthday (that’s right, both boys are 16 and look it), but it soon be H it and R unway comes clear that Dani isn’t interested in either of the two local girls Nico tries to romance. Dani is hristopher Livingston’s Hit and Runway more interested in “krampack,” the original title (scheduled to open April 27) works the of the film, meaning mutual masturbation, and tried and true Odd Couple formula, throw he ups the ante one evening with oral sex. ing together a stereotypically macho but dumb A s the lazy sum m er m oves on, Dani Italian guy and a stereotypically smart but becom es more and m ore obsessed with keep nerdy Jewish gay man who never would’ve had ing N ic o for him self. W hen his attem pts to anything to do with each other were it not for underm ine his friend’s first heterosexual C JUJIOIX Restaurant ▼ Retail Join the Blend ment writer who finds it humorously ironic that aged men discussing their cannibalistic past is more interesting than preteen sexuality. You can write him at AM angelsSW @aol.com. C hristopher M c Q uain is a Portland-based writer and tireless observer o f pop culture. Sprlngwater eclectic food, wine, (Si furnishings 5:30 to 9 pmTues-Thurs 5:30pm-10pm Fri-Sat Lounge open late Fri & Sat f restaurant 2 0 0 0 N E 4 0 th 503/460-2682 ANDY M angels is a longtime Portland entertain - m 4100 S.E. Division ▼ 233-6950 2610 n w VaugL SI. 503-220-0283 arofje {pricing encounter fail, Dani instead sets his sights on a gay writer friend o f his father’s. To put it bluntly, Nico arid Dani (playing April 27 to May 3 at Cinema 21) often made my skin crawl, largely because of its awkwardly young cast. Although I’m not blind to the idea that teen boys are experimenting with each other all over the world, seeing that experimentation on screen— with the skeletal Nico as part of it— was not something I ever wanted in my frame of vision. Much jest has been made in the media about twentysomethings playing teens on Daw sons Creek and other shows, but let me just say that seeing actual teens with their hormones rag ing felt uncomfortably like kiddie pom (even without much on-screen nudity). A s a film, Nico and Dani has no obvious flaws. the coincidences and ulterior motives that lead them to collaborate on a screenplay. Alex Andero (Michael Parducci) is a twen tysomething who works at his family’s deli and dreams of writing a hit movie. He flounders at his screenwriting night class, where the teacher sneers at his incoherent action film ideas. Elliot Springer (Peter Jacobsen) is a struggling thir tysomething playwright who has an overpower ing crush on young ’n’ sexy Joey (Kerr Smith of Dawson’s Creek), an actor who works at the deli. Hom-rimmed, underconfident Elliot some how musters the chutzpah to present a copy of his play, Chicken of the Sea, to Joey in hopes of getting the cutie to star in it and maybe “collab orate” with its author. Joey couldn’t care less, but when Alex is called upon to develop Hit and Runway, an action script set in the modeling world that he’s pitched but can’t possibly flesh out, he comes across Chicken of the Sea and picks Elliot, sight unseen, to be his writing partner. Alex overcomes intellectual Elliot’s aver sion to his idiocy by h w k in g him up with Joey, who as it turns out has a fetish for Jewish men. A twisting and turning series of mishaps and heartbreaks ensue; at the end, everyone is happier, wiser, more enlightened and not much the worse for wear. Livingston and co-writer Jaffe Cohen clearly intended to create a sweet, humorous story demonstrating that straight guys and gay guys can overcome inherent differences and get along, finding romantic and career fulfillment in their own ways. Unfortunately, the film rides so high on its anti-stereotype, anti-Hollywood horse, all the while indulging in easy profiling— Alex could be a minor, hapless Sopranos character, while Elliot is written as a superficial, hand-wringing Woody Allen clone— and simple-minded story contrivances, it’s hard not to be disap pointed with its frequent hypocrisy. A n added burden is the stilted way many o f the scenes play, as if they’d been blocked with a laugh track in mind. T he film could’ve been better enjoyed without the pretensions. Although superior to its most immediate predecessor, 1997 s Kiss M e, Guido, Livingston and C oh en obviously consider it a seriocomic work of art with Annie H all aspirations, when in reality it’s more on par with a passable Friends episode. — Christopher M cQuain J F a 1/2 O ff E n tree w/ p u rch ase o f eq u al o r g re a te r value Rihl'.ye Steak • Peoto Chicken Botvtie * Pork Loin M edallion.< l.llenAnirtf Lam b Rack • Crab Cakes Pan Seared Salm on • Oven Roar ted Chicken bar Reservation.' o ’ Columns Reanircd (1 blchs. North o f Sandy) P r iv a t e p a r tie s di c a t e r in g a v a ila b le Art Eclectic M e n u Ranging from Italian to Thai 6716 SK Milwaukie Ave • 503.232.2442 45
