Fierce People (2005)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Griffin Dunne

Writers (WGA):

Dirk Wittenborn (book)
Dirk Wittenborn (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 November 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Every family tree has its nuts.

Plot:

A massage therapist looks to get out of New York City to join the father of her son, an anthropologist in South American who's studying the Yanomani people.

Plot Keywords:

Anthropologist | Tribe | Billionaire | Massage | New York City

Cast

Diane Lane	...	Liz Earl
Anton Yelchin	...	Finn Earl
Donald Sutherland	...	Ogden C. Osborne
Chris Evans	...	Bryce
Kristen Stewart	...	Maya
Paz de la Huerta	...	Jilly
Blu Mankuma	...	Gates
Elizabeth Perkins	...	Mrs. Langley
Christopher Shyer	...	Dr. Leffler
Gary Chalk	...	McCallum (as Garry Chalk)
Ryan McDonald	...	Ian
Dexter Bell	...	Marcus Gates
Kaleigh Dey	...	Paige
Aaron Brooks	...	Giacomo
Teach Grant	...	Dwayne

MPAA:

Rated R for language, drug use, sexuality/nudity and some violence.

Runtime:

USA:107 min | Argentina:135 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

Tagalog | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:15 | Mexico:B15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Industry Entertainment

Trivia:

Eddie Rosales who played the shaman in the movie's dream sequence was actually speaking in Filipino.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the police car takes them away from their apartment it has a stop light out, but when it is arriving at the country house the light is fixed.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Finn Earl: [narrating] There's this tribe in South America called the Ishcanani. That means fierce people.
Finn Earl: They're. They're like the meanest people in the world. They'll cut off your thumbs, and they'll shit in your hammock just like we say hello.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-09-08)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

That Right Ain't Shit

Africa Screens

Dirk Wittenborn's story, directed by Griffin Dunne, starts to fall apart when, while watching African tribal rituals, the younger generation of characters begins chanting the expletive word for procreation, followed by "Kill!", again, and Again, and AGAIN! It's a scene representative of the film's "tribal" symbolism; the "upstairs/downstairs" cast of characters are varying levels of decadent rich. They act like, and are associated with, tribal savages. Their tribal passion is fueled by alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine.

When one of the characters, in disguise, violently assaults another character, something is lost in the translation. This particular "event" must have been more clearly understood in Wittenborn's original book. "Fierce People" seems like must have come from a terrific novel. On screen, young Anton Yelchin (as Finn Earl) is endearingly huckleberry, in the protagonist's role. Massaging mother Diane Lane (as Liz Earl) and daddy-like Donald Sutherland (as Ogden C. Osborne) help keep it above average.

****** Fierce People (2005) Griffin Dunne ~ Anton Yelchin, Diane Lane, Donald Sutherland