End of the Spear

Synopsis

The Waodani tribe of the Amazon is, we are told, so violent that they have almost hunted each other to extinction. Oops. Anyway, in 1956 a group of missionaries and their families arrive to live with the Waodani and do the missionary thing. A misunderstanding leads to the missionaries being slaughtered, but their wives decide to stay. The film follows the journey of the son of one of the five men, and the whole thing is all about forgiveness.

See, the title is “End” not “Tip” of th… spear. Double meaning, get it? End of violence? Thanks, of course, to the saving influence of clean-cut white folks and their pacifying religion. I’m sure this goes over well with the target demo, and, in the time-honoured manner of Cecil B. DeMille, indulges in all sorts of spearing and hacking before getting to the message of non-violence. Stodgy and didactic, the film is at least shot very nicely.

Audio

The film is hardly worth writing home about, but the audio is satisfyingly immersive. The effect of being in the jungle is pretty nicely realized, with all sorts of bird and animal calls on all sides. Most impressive is, during battle scenes, the sound of the spears, as they whizz from one speaker to the other. Very neat indeed. The music, stereotypically “inspiring” (in other words not), is very enveloping and the bass line is terrific.

Video

Pretty nice picture, too. The word “lush” should be thrown about with abandon in this case. The colours are magnificent, especially the greens, but all the contrasts, blacks and flesh tones are pretty damn fine, too. The image is sharp, and there is no grain or edge enhancement. The picture did break up at one point very briefly, but this isn’t necessarily a problem on all the discs. Both widescreen and fullscreen options are available.

Special Features

Nothing here but the trailer for Beyond the Gates of Splendor, the documentary on which the film was based (both are directed by Jim Hanon). The menu’s main screen is animated and scored.

Closing Thoughts

Ham-fisted stuff. Dubious, too. Nice transfer, though.

Special Features List

• Trailer