Movies about "going up river"
September 9, 2024 8:37 AM Subscribe
I recently rewatched Fitzcarraldo (and the related doc Burden of Dreams) and it got me wondering-- what other films (fiction and documentary) are about "going up river"?
Apocalypse Now and Deliverance may be the canonical examples. The African Queen would be something on the lighter side. I'm not really looking for films that take place on a river, it's more about the journey. It also doesn't necessarily have to be about going from "civilization" to "the jungle"/nasty colonial mindset stuff, but I am thinking in terms of going from the known/safety into the unknown/danger.
Apocalypse Now and Deliverance may be the canonical examples. The African Queen would be something on the lighter side. I'm not really looking for films that take place on a river, it's more about the journey. It also doesn't necessarily have to be about going from "civilization" to "the jungle"/nasty colonial mindset stuff, but I am thinking in terms of going from the known/safety into the unknown/danger.
Best answer: you can't mention Fitzcarraldo w/o Aguirre, the Wrath of God!
posted by ginger.beef at 8:48 AM on September 9, 2024 [4 favorites]
posted by ginger.beef at 8:48 AM on September 9, 2024 [4 favorites]
Sorcerer and The Wages of Fear should fit the bill.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 9:51 AM on September 9, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 9:51 AM on September 9, 2024 [3 favorites]
well Apocalypse Now fits the bill
posted by supermedusa at 10:01 AM on September 9, 2024 [4 favorites]
posted by supermedusa at 10:01 AM on September 9, 2024 [4 favorites]
Best answer: The Mosquito Coast Helen Mirren, Harrison Ford and Joaquin Phoenix's older brother, River Phoenix. Horror on a raft. Great performances.
posted by effluvia at 10:02 AM on September 9, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by effluvia at 10:02 AM on September 9, 2024 [3 favorites]
gwint acknowledges Apocalypse Now, Deliverance, and The African Queen just below the fold of their question, fyi
posted by ginger.beef at 10:14 AM on September 9, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by ginger.beef at 10:14 AM on September 9, 2024 [2 favorites]
What about the recent Disney movie "Jungle Cruise"?
More seriously, there is "The Mission" from 1986 about a Jesuit going into the jungles of Paraguay to proselytize the locals.
(JINX DAMMIT)
posted by wenestvedt at 10:25 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
More seriously, there is "The Mission" from 1986 about a Jesuit going into the jungles of Paraguay to proselytize the locals.
(JINX DAMMIT)
posted by wenestvedt at 10:25 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
I was going to include The Mission and now two of you have gone and mentioned it
a good Morricone soundtrack, and good performances from De Niro and Irons. Of potential interest, this BBC "In Our Time" episode The Valladolid Debate
posted by ginger.beef at 10:36 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
a good Morricone soundtrack, and good performances from De Niro and Irons. Of potential interest, this BBC "In Our Time" episode The Valladolid Debate
posted by ginger.beef at 10:36 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
If you want to be literal, the phrase “up the river” originates from prisoners being sent up the river from New York City to Sing Sing Prison. The prison’s museum has a few examples of movies that include Sing Sing.
posted by plastic_animals at 10:40 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by plastic_animals at 10:40 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Traveling up the Ohio River is a primary plot element of The Night of the Hunter.
posted by eschatfische at 10:40 AM on September 9, 2024 [5 favorites]
posted by eschatfische at 10:40 AM on September 9, 2024 [5 favorites]
"going from the know/safety into unknown/danger"
It's a lot weirder than just up a river, but Annihilation fits the bill.
posted by dr. boludo at 10:46 AM on September 9, 2024 [2 favorites]
It's a lot weirder than just up a river, but Annihilation fits the bill.
posted by dr. boludo at 10:46 AM on September 9, 2024 [2 favorites]
In The Lord of the Rings, much of the first film is set on a river and the entire story, from Hobbiton to the slopes of Mount Doom, is a flight from safety into danger.
posted by SPrintF at 10:49 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by SPrintF at 10:49 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
The River Wild (1994, Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon) might be better than you remember.
posted by box at 11:13 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 11:13 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
La Vallee - (Obscured By Clouds)
Soundtrack to the film is the Pink Floyd album "Obscured by Clouds"
I think it's supposed to be another Heart of Darkness allegory?
posted by schyler523 at 11:43 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
Soundtrack to the film is the Pink Floyd album "Obscured by Clouds"
I think it's supposed to be another Heart of Darkness allegory?
posted by schyler523 at 11:43 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
Seconding The Night of the Hunter.
Also films based upon the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn would also be canonical.
posted by vacapinta at 11:46 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
Also films based upon the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn would also be canonical.
posted by vacapinta at 11:46 AM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
Rivers End
which is a teen's movie about learning from the water featuring a whole bunch of 'that guys' like that guy from Northern Exposure and that guy from Not Another Teen Movie.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:10 PM on September 9, 2024
which is a teen's movie about learning from the water featuring a whole bunch of 'that guys' like that guy from Northern Exposure and that guy from Not Another Teen Movie.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:10 PM on September 9, 2024
apocalypse now is a retelling of the novella heart of darkness.
posted by j_curiouser at 1:30 PM on September 9, 2024
posted by j_curiouser at 1:30 PM on September 9, 2024
Ad Astra is basically Heart of Darkness transposed to outer space.
posted by verstegan at 2:03 PM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by verstegan at 2:03 PM on September 9, 2024 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Hearts of Darkness is a documentary by Eleanor Coppola about the making of Apocalypse Now, and it's absolutely fantastic in its own right. I watched it on YouTube recently, and it may still be available there.
posted by rjs at 2:31 PM on September 9, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by rjs at 2:31 PM on September 9, 2024 [3 favorites]
Best answer: The Peanut Butter Falcon literally has a raft and literally namechecks Mark Twain
posted by credulous at 3:04 PM on September 9, 2024
posted by credulous at 3:04 PM on September 9, 2024
Something fitting the theme, is The River of Doubt (subtitle: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey) by Candice Millard. I listened to an audiobook copy.
The River of Doubt is also the title of a movie about the event, but I haven't seen it. It was made about 13 years before the book was published.
posted by rochrobbb at 4:30 PM on September 9, 2024
The River of Doubt is also the title of a movie about the event, but I haven't seen it. It was made about 13 years before the book was published.
posted by rochrobbb at 4:30 PM on September 9, 2024
Perhaps Disney's Raya And The Last Dragon. It's certainly a voyage into the unknown, and a lot of it happens on a river.
posted by lhauser at 5:17 PM on September 9, 2024
posted by lhauser at 5:17 PM on September 9, 2024
The 1992 version of The Last of the Mohicans would fit I think.
posted by gudrun at 7:39 PM on September 9, 2024
posted by gudrun at 7:39 PM on September 9, 2024
As journeys go....The Wizard Of Oz.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:48 AM on September 10, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by SemiSalt at 4:48 AM on September 10, 2024 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Much of 2018's Zama, set somewhere along the Argentina / Paraguay border in the late 1700s, features a memorable journey up a river.
Directed by the redoubtable Lucretia Martel, based on the novel by Antonio di Benedetto. The review I linked to is a good one but the author has a VERY different take from mine on the ending. To me the events at the end pointed to a way out.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 5:59 AM on September 10, 2024 [1 favorite]
Directed by the redoubtable Lucretia Martel, based on the novel by Antonio di Benedetto. The review I linked to is a good one but the author has a VERY different take from mine on the ending. To me the events at the end pointed to a way out.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 5:59 AM on September 10, 2024 [1 favorite]
An ocean, not a river but All Is Lost (Robert Redford).
posted by SemiSalt at 6:07 AM on September 10, 2024
posted by SemiSalt at 6:07 AM on September 10, 2024
A pair of Werner Herzog films, one a documentary, the other a dramatic film about the same story. The films are about a German man whose dream in life was to learn to fly; in the 1960's he moved to America where there were more opportunities, joined the U.S. Navy, was deployed to Vietnam, was shot down over Laos, taken prisoner and eventually escaped into the jungle, where yes there is a river.
Rescue Dawn, a dramatic film starring Christian Bale.
Little Dieter Needs to Fly, a documentary.
posted by daikon at 11:03 AM on September 10, 2024 [1 favorite]
Rescue Dawn, a dramatic film starring Christian Bale.
Little Dieter Needs to Fly, a documentary.
posted by daikon at 11:03 AM on September 10, 2024 [1 favorite]
this AskMe, with slight adaptation, could be about a journey of the films of Werner Herzog and indeed what monstrous uncertainty awaits
posted by ginger.beef at 2:50 PM on September 10, 2024
posted by ginger.beef at 2:50 PM on September 10, 2024
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posted by zamboni at 8:44 AM on September 9, 2024