User reviews

"The Emperor of Peru" ("Odyssey of the Pacific") is a very strange Canadian film aimed at children. I noticed the two other reviews for this film on IMDB loved it. I certainly was not in love with the film and think it's not exactly to my taste.

Two orphan children have been adopted by some unusual people. And, soon, they also adopt a Cambodian kid who longs to be reunited with his father in his native country. When the trio meet a brain-addled old man (Mickey Rooney), he convinces them that they can restore an old steam engine and take this train to Cambodia...even thought they are presumably in Canada.

I saw some serious problems with this movie. Two of the three children have very little acting talent and look lost at times. And, as for Mickey Rooney, his portrayal of the Emperor of Peru was strange and way over the top. As for the story, it is fantasy, though I am sure most adults and teens watching the film will realize that you cannot take a train from Canada to Cambodia! Overall, this is a very strange fantasy film about some kids I didn't care much about and a senile old guy who is just bizarre. For me, this film is a miss and I am not in agreement with the two reviews which gave it a 9 and loved it. Loved it? I didn't even like it!

This is a surreal little film about several children who befriend a potty old retired railroad engineer and end up actually breathing new life into an abandoned, rusting Pacific steam locomotive. The cast is excellent, though Mickey Rooney appears to be ad-libbing his lines. The final scenes are exhilarating and will stay with you, and that's a good thing. Recommended for all.

"Emperor of Peru" is a children's film, which might put off a lot of people (especially adults who don't have children). But never fear, it's a Canadian children's film, which makes all the difference in the world. Apparently, Disney hasn't been as influential in Canada as it has been in the good, old US of A. American family films tend towards blandness, but in Canada a healthy European influence is still felt, and makers of children's' pictures are willing to take chances. Another person who reviewed "Emperor" on this site called it "surrealistic." It might be better described as "imagistic" or "fantastic." (It certainly is "fantasy;" it isn't "realistic" in the conventional sense at all.) Two children deal with the arrival of a foster brother, a Cambodian refugee. All three of them discover a hermetic retired railway engineer (Mickey Rooney) living in the woods. Then the children find an abandoned locomotive and, with the help of the engineer, bring it back to working order. (Or do they? The locomotive in actual operation, represented by stock footage, may be merely a fantasy on the part of the children.) The ambiguity about the last point is the key to the film's style. "Emperor" exists in its own kind of toyshop alternative reality. Fernando Arrabal only had a small budget with which to work, but he turns this to his advantage by choosing to REPRESENT the film's "reality" instead of portraying it realistically. At times toys and cheap paper mache props are made to stand in for real objects. At other times, shots of real objects are made to represent toys. (In the opening sequence, for example, we are shown stock footage of what appear to be actual railway trains. Later on we learn that what we are seeing is supposed to be only a TOY train set.) I can't really use words to describe just how whimsical and delightful all of this is. (Think of a live action "Gumby" episode.) So i guess you'll just have to see "Emperor of Peru" for yourself. Images sometimes speak louder than words........