Keep the River on Your Right - A Modern Cannibal Tale

Sometimes the truth really is stranger than fiction.

Dissatisfied with the social aspects of life and ever jaded with humanity itself, homosexual Jewish artist Tobias Schneebaum undertook a journey into the Peruvian Amazon in 1955 to find a new perspective and a more satisfying existence. One year after his disappearance, Schneebaum suddenly emerged from the jungle bare naked, covered in tribal body paint and, apparently, a cannibal.

As you have by now probably gathered, this documentary most certainly isn't The History of Aluminium. It is a rare occurrence indeed that tales come any stranger than Keep the River On Your Right.... The duality within Tobias Schneebaum makes for fascinating viewing. On one hand, he is almost the perfect embodiment of an elderly Jewish New Yorker. Reserved and refreshingly down to earth, to glance in his direction you could never, in a million years, conceive the fearless story this man has to tell.

Think along the lines of Heart of Darkness and you'll be getting closer to the type of experience that comes from viewing this film. Now 78, Schneebaum often reflects over his adventures, and it is here where the documentary picks up as he prepares to journey back into the jungle and retrace his steps. Often pensive, occasionally terrifying and at times riotously funny, Keep the River On Your Right... is one of the most exceptional and complicated tales caught on film for a long time.

Keep the River On Your Right... was entirely shot on video, and while the cinematography is often meticulous and inventive, many problems arise in the transfer because of this. While the actual transfer itself is generally free from any sort of authoring problems, the video source footage presents many faults. These are, for the most part, the kind of things that cannot be mended or remastered without any type of significant budget. Nevertheless, there are several instances where the image appears underexposed, overexposed, pale and even blurry. Of course, taking into account that these are all source problems, then the video here looks otherwise fine.

The Dolby Digital stereo track provided is generally satisfactory. There are a few instances where dialogue is a little muddied and difficult to understand, however again this is a problem with the source and not the transfer itself. Keep the River On Your Right... also features a wonderfully skewed musical score by Steve Bernstein and Paul O'Leary. Thankfully, there are no audible problems with this particular element of the soundtrack.

Interviews - Around 15 minutes of raw interview footage conducted with Tobias Schneebaum some time after the completion of the film. It's certainly interesting enough to see how his outlook has changed because of the whole experience.

Theatrical Trailer - The original theatrical trailer for Keep the River On Your Right - A Modern Cannibal Tale. It is an extremely effective trailer to say the least.

Umbrella Propaganda - A single screen highlighting four titles from Umbrella's catalogue.

If you're in the market for a documentary with a difference, then Keep the River On Your Right... ought to fill that void to the brim. It is an exceptional tale, deftly told and injected with so much love that it glows.