Although this documentary could have used a little better editing, at 2 hours long, I still found it a fascinating tale.
It begins in 1929, when Dore Straunch and Friedrich Riiter decide to leave their families and careers, in Germany, and move to the uninhabited island of Floreana, in the Galapagos Islands, West of Ecuador. They have had it with civilization and want to live a new life in virtually total isolation away from the world.
However, some of their writings back to Germany are leaked to the press, who paint them as a modern version of Adam and Eve or the new Robinson Crusoes. In time (1932), another family the Wittmers, having read about the Ritters, come to Floreana to also get away from the world, much to the resentment and chagrin of the Ritters.
The Wittmers, also German, consist of Margret, her husband Heinz, and their son Henry. They take up residence on the far side of the island, away from the Ritters. Soon though, the self-proclaimed French Baroness Eloise von Wagner also arrives on the island with her two minions Robert Philippson and Rudolf Lorenz. The Baroness is quite domineering and soon causes friction with the other islanders, as well as possessing a wild scheme of building a hotel there geared for millionaires.
In time, the tension and bad feelings between the inhabitants of the island begins to boil over, and when they're hit with a drought in 1934, it will lead to a point of no return. There will be threats, mysterious deaths and most likely murders occurring.
The movie is enhanced by actual film footage of all the island dwellers, and although we don't hear their voices their journals and writings are read effectively during the film to coincide with the what's happening on screen. I was quite surprised to see the list of movie notables who were doing the reading during the run of the credits.
All in all, I found this documentary, directed by Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine, to be quite fascinating and interesting, based on a subject I knew nothing about before viewing it.
It begins in 1929, when Dore Straunch and Friedrich Riiter decide to leave their families and careers, in Germany, and move to the uninhabited island of Floreana, in the Galapagos Islands, West of Ecuador. They have had it with civilization and want to live a new life in virtually total isolation away from the world.
However, some of their writings back to Germany are leaked to the press, who paint them as a modern version of Adam and Eve or the new Robinson Crusoes. In time (1932), another family the Wittmers, having read about the Ritters, come to Floreana to also get away from the world, much to the resentment and chagrin of the Ritters.
The Wittmers, also German, consist of Margret, her husband Heinz, and their son Henry. They take up residence on the far side of the island, away from the Ritters. Soon though, the self-proclaimed French Baroness Eloise von Wagner also arrives on the island with her two minions Robert Philippson and Rudolf Lorenz. The Baroness is quite domineering and soon causes friction with the other islanders, as well as possessing a wild scheme of building a hotel there geared for millionaires.
In time, the tension and bad feelings between the inhabitants of the island begins to boil over, and when they're hit with a drought in 1934, it will lead to a point of no return. There will be threats, mysterious deaths and most likely murders occurring.
The movie is enhanced by actual film footage of all the island dwellers, and although we don't hear their voices their journals and writings are read effectively during the film to coincide with the what's happening on screen. I was quite surprised to see the list of movie notables who were doing the reading during the run of the credits.
All in all, I found this documentary, directed by Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine, to be quite fascinating and interesting, based on a subject I knew nothing about before viewing it.