The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden

I rather enjoy delving into the lesser known narratives of history. The film is a tour de force in historical research of an obscure, albeit real mystery that was a sensational item at one time (1930s.) European settlers filter onto a very remote island with different agendas, from idealistic to craven, apparently. Built from painfully researched documents and even film, and with interviews from a very special group of humans - those who have lived or were born on the Galapagos Islands, a sketchy legend comes to life into a fascinating narrative of society gone wrong. Ultimately a dark tale of the inability of humanity to go beyond a violent nature (as one aged interviewee says "it's in our genes and there is no escape") even when a few very small parties restart from scratch, isolated from virtually every other human presence on the planet, and clash.

I lived in Galapagos for 4 years (1999-2002) and now run an expedition cruise ship agency focusing on that destination (CNH Tours). One of the people interviewed in the film was a good friend while we were there (Daniel Fitter), and I knowTui de Roy and her late mother Jacqueline, who feature prominently. I also know the family members of several other folks in the film (siblings, descendants). It was wonderful to have all the diverse material brought together to provide a coherent story about what happened on Floreana island. I was very impressed by the quantity of film footage from the 1930's, along with the high quality pictures of the film's protagonists. Perhaps some with little or no connection to the islands will find the film a bit long - but I did not. There was a significant part that focused on the lives of other European settles who had arrived in the islands around the same time, if not a little later than the main characters - this was interesting, but did not contribute to the actual story very effectively. A new edition of the film could remove some of that in an effort to reduce the film's overall length, without compromising the story (though I liked it all!).

I have no regrets about seeing this unusual film. I don't think I've ever seen a documentary like it. The tale of a Nietzsche-inspired couple going off to live self-sufficiently on a tiny Galapagos island would be gripping enough. Add the other elements -- the "Baroness" who decides to settle on the island after them with her two lovers, and the bizarre and deadly events that ensue -- and it's really an amazing story.

Why, then, was the documentary so slow and, at times, dull? I think there were too many long, largely irrelevant interviews with people who lived on a nearby island. Their lives were quirky in their own way, but not that interesting, with little connection to the main story. I don't think it's bad to note that others lived on the Galapagos, but I don't think these interviews added much, and at times they were pure digressions. While not omitted entirely, they could have been cut dramatically.

This is a riveting true story, but only parts of the documentary are riveting.

No spoiler here, the mystery remains intact, even though there are ideas presented about the philosopher and his mistress, the Wittmer family who stayed, and the Baroness and her lovers who didn't stay. You can judge for yourself what you think really happened.

I recommend this film, which would not have been possible without the wonderful old films of Alan Hancock documenting the folks of Floureana. His expeditions not only gave us the film clips but also brought some of the comforts to the people on Floureana. You will see if those were good or not. The filmmakers did a fine job of putting together the film clips, the interviews and photos of the islands and telling a great story.

If you love Galápagos, if you have been there or are planning to go you should watch this lovely little history of some of the people who went and lived there on Floureana.

An almost stranger-than-fiction tale of paradise found and paradise lost is recounted in the documentary The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden, a true-crime mystery that unfolded in the remote islands off the South American coast during the 1930s that remains unsolved to this day.

Tiring of conventional life in Germany, a doctor and his sickly mistress retreat from civilization and head to the furthest reaches of the earth -- the unsettled islands of the nature-filled Galapagos Islands. A family of three soon joins them on the island and tensions begin to build as each have contrasting opinions of what the isle should be like. Things change even more when a beguiling baroness and her two lovers arrive on the island hoping to scout out a location for a fancy hotel.

Things happen. Bad things.

Told through narration by the reading of the actual people's journals and diary entries of their time on the island, the visuals of the film are as equally fascinating as a surprising amount of actual video footage was recorded of the various adventurers. It is as if it was all meant to happen ... so we'd be intrigued anew 80 years later! This little story has remarkably remained secret over the decades ... I'm surprised Hollywood has not tried to adapt this into a jaw-dropping suspense thriller as nobody on the island knew what to think of any of the others once mysterious things started to happen. What did happen? I watched the documentary and am still unsure. It is a perfect mystery ... or it is a perfect hoax.

The film is intriguing and made me think of Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None'. I wish there was more to know ... but there isn't. It is an eternal mystery ...

"A closed mouth admits no flies."