Jungle Child (2011)

As Good As It Gets

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This was a wonderful movie. The actress who played the lead was fantastic, as were the mother, father older sister and little brother. I just watched this the other day,and I'm watching the whole movie again today because I loved it so much. What was the song the kids played on their recorders when they invited the chiefs for dinner?

"Dschungelkind" or "Jungle Child" is a German movie from five years ago that is exactly about what the title says. We follow the life of a German girl (and her White family) and how she is coming of age deep in the jungle because her father has a job down there. The director is Roland Suso Richter, who is mostly known for his television work here in Germany, but I think this one here was a theatrical movie and it proves that he can deliver on the big screen too. I have little doubt that this is by far the best work I have seen from him. He was also one of the many people who worked on the script here and, luckily, this is no case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. The reason for this may very well be that this film is based on an autobiographical novel by Sabine Kuegler and this is the story about her life. I have not read the book, but maybe the base material was already that great or they just did super-fine on the adaptation.The second reason why this movie works so well is child actress Stella Kunkat. She is in most of the scenes for almost the entire movie, except the last 20 minutes perhaps and I believe she did a tremendous job. If she decides to pursue a career in acting, I can see a bright career ahead for her. She makes the character work so well and it's very interesting to watch her, but also her family how they deal with all kinds of difficult scenarios. The Germans live right next to two tribes who keep fighting each other and collateral damage may seem unavoidable. Then there is the wild animals of course too. And then there are also problem that may occur to everybody, no matter if they live in the thickest jungle or the biggest metropolis.The film offered a couple really nice moments in terms of understanding each other and overcoming boundaries that society laid upon us. I think one of the major things to understand here is that home is the jungle for them and only the jungle. The scene when they are back in Germany for a while shows perfectly that they do not feel home, that it is just a temporary journey until they return where they belong. They really succeeded in evoking this perspective. Well done. Also thanks to the material it is based on, they are not scared of bringing death and tragedy in here and emotion that never feels forced but genuine all the time. This was already the second time I watched this movie and I liked it pretty much the same like the first time. It is quite impressive to make a film that so easily runs past the 120-minute mark and still never ever drags only a little bit. I would have watched this for another hour. I really authentic and sincere work. I highly recommend it.

I read the original book "Dschungelkind" some years ago and was simply amazed. Despite simple language the perceptible clash of cultures described with so much feeling was astonishing. This film does not entirely reach up to the book, but still catches one's heart and depicts the life of Sabine Kuegler very believably.Always keeping in mind this is an entirely true story with nothing made up, this biography makes one really think about how life could have been different and what perfect world means for yourself.Overall I can strongly recommend this film although reading the book before watching this film is probably the better order since this is even more thought-provoking.

The Fayu cannot die. Only a curse or an arrow ends a life.The eight years old girl Sabine arrives at the Indonesian island of West-Papua, together with her parents and 2 siblings. A linguistic research mission brought her family to the jungle of the Fayu. It is the beginning of a great adventure and soon Sabine finds her new home. Far off the western civilization, she grows up as a child of the jungle, but the untouched wilderness holds dangers of its own. The close friendship between Sabine and Auri, a boy of an enemy tribe, almost puts her and her family between the two waring factions. The friendship prevails and turns into an intense bond over the years, until the 16 year old Sabine returns to Germany, a home as alien to her as the rainforest of the Fayu to us.