Primitif

An atrociously made, acted and dubbed cannibal movie that is also very tame in terms of violence (except for a scene where a crocodile is skinned alive) and nudity (it must have been on the female lead's contract not to have a single nude scene). The "highlights" of the film's stupidity include:

A: The poorly integrated stock footage of animals killing each other.

B: The lamest attempted-rape sequence you'll ever see.

C: A scene of the cannibals having circled around the hero and then attacking him one-at-a-time, and him defending himself with karate moves!

D: A silly conversation about whether the cannibals have any chances of "adapting to our civilization" ("Well, it's gonna take quite some time"!).

E: The already-mentioned axe-boomerang scene, and a terribly edited spear-throwing scene a few seconds earlier.

The on-location filming is the only thing that forces me to give this film one star, instead of none. Only for the desperately curious.

When I first found this film at my local video store I thought it must have been a retitled version of one of the Lenzi or Deodato cannibal films as I had never heard of it before. After watching it I wish it had been.

There is something almost authentic about the Italian cannibal films, where as this comes across as exactly what it is, a cheapo jungle adventure. The natives in this one ham it up way to much in my opinion.

I have mentioned cannibals a few times already, but there is no actual cannibalism in this film(people are speared and taken by crocodiles), although it is mentioned by some characters in the film, it is however in the same vein as the Italian cannibal films. There is of course plenty of violence against animals and some hilariously badly inserted stock footage(very grainy) of a leopard attacking or being attacked by crocodiles and a snake killing a furry critter of some sort.

Some scenes are OK, such as the scenes set inside a cave, where two of the central characters are held captive, being urinated on while trapped in a cage and being forced on to all fours and ridden around like a horse, but in the main it is badly acted and pretty boring.

The version that I saw looked like it was cut, although I would not think that an uncut version would be all that gory anyway as there doesn't seem to be that much opportunity for extreme violence with the situations that are created.

Only seek this one out if you have to see every cannibal(?) movie ever made.

The first we hear of Gatot Sudarto's music is a song over the opening credits that sounds like something Daft Punk might have composed; in addition to tribal percussion, some subsequent themes bring Tangerine Dream to mind, among others. (And don't miss a later theme that's simply lifted outright.) Leo Fioole's cinematography, often excitable, seems to indicate right off the bat that he's just here to have a good time. For as straightforward as the premise is I'm sure everyone had to find their own way to spice things up a bit. That includes scene writing that even within the first ten minutes or so shifts from arguably celebrating indigenous cultures (at least in a broad, amorphous sense), to definitely exploiting them for cheap kicks (i.e., "Gee golly, would you look at that!"). Thereafter it's not long before the adventure begins, and we know the horror won't be too far behind. Falling right in line with many other titles that have been made about cannibals, it's safe to say that 'Primitif' isn't breaking any new ground, and it's no exemplar of film-making or storytelling. It's still suitably well made and enjoyable on its own merits, though - whatever one may think of the dubious nature of the concept - and good enough for something relatively uninvolved to check out on a quiet day.

Reasonable questions abound. Did Sisworo Gautama Putra intend from the start to make total schlock, and gleefully embrace tropes in the process, or was the intent wholly earnest and the rest manifested naturally? What impact did the production have on the local environment and wildlife? What safety precautions, if any, were in place for the more dangerous scenes and stuntwork? More esoterically, what balance (if any) is there in this feature about cannibalistic indigenous people between tawdrily feeding into appalling prejudices and exploitation, and real-life mistreatment of such populations, versus just having violent cinematic fun that in no way reflects reality? I don't have the answers to these questions, nor others that may come to mind. Some things are certain, however, and chief among them is that it seems like the cast was having a blast, even the extras; especially in the more action-oriented moments they definitely went all-in. Those stunts that are employed look great, not to mention practical effects including blood and gore; everything from makeup, to art direction, to props is terrific, and the filming locations are gorgeous.

Some instances of dialogue, scene writing, acting, and direction come off better than others, both in terms of quality generally and, specifically, how the indigenous people are depicted - usually, not with anything remotely resembling respect or integrity. With that said, I absolutely think this would have been better had it been produced as a silent film, excising dialogue outright. Overall Putra's direction is fine, at least when it comes to fundamental arrangement of shots and scenes, and the filmmaker loved a spectacle. I plainly hate the animal cruelty, though in fairness, different cultures have different sensibilities about such matters; the use of some stock footage to pad out scenes is a little gauche. The story at large is workable, at least on paper; in practice there are issues here of pacing insofar there is notable lag between major beats, and some portions of the length just kind of trundle along. This probably could have been a smidgen shorter. Above all, despite the strength 'Primitif' bears at its best, and in some unexpected ways (that music is catchy!), it's not so striking as to be wholly riveting. It's appreciable, but never altogether thrilling, and given how highly questionable some of the writing is, there are major upper limits on the potential here.

You could do better, and you could do worse. It's very troubled, certainly, above all in regards to portraying the natives but even in the weaker parts of various aspects. One way or another, though, the movie only wanted to be a genre romp, and I can't say it didn't achieve its goal - and with more success than not, surely. There hardly any need to watch this, but it's passably worthwhile if you happen to come across it; I would just offer the caveat that you really should know what you're getting into before you give it a try.

I obtained this on the VideoAsia "Tales of Voodoo 2" label. No voodoo to be seen, although the eponymous natives were reasonably uncivilised.

What do you get from your average cannibal movie and how does it match up?

Well I would venture to list and suggest the following:

Soggy jungle scenes: present; Offensive animal cruelty: present; Woeful acting: present++; Poor camera-work: present+++ Nudity: not a jot; Gore: present; Plot: the usual.

Lawd! This film is desperate. A downmarket Cannibal Holocaust meets Cannibal God. The Indonesians haven't a clue. Watch something else....

Primitives (1978)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Three college kids and their professor travel to Indonesia where they go into the jungles in search of cannibals. They find them but soon learn the cannibals are rather hungry. Here's a rare jungle/cannibal film from Indonesia, which tries hard to recapture the Italian cannibal genre but pretty much fails. The biggest problem is that there are so many cliffhanger moments that you really can't take the film too seriously. The worst thing is that none of the characters are all that likable so you have a hard time wanting to see them live. Be forewarned that there are a lot of real animals slaughtered (and eaten) on screen.