Movie Review - The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden

The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (2013)

Featuring the voices of Cate Blanchett, Thomas Kretschmann, Diane Kruger, Sebastian Koch, Connie Nielsen, and Josh Radnor

Directed by Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine
***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

In the late 1920s, budding philosopher Friedrich Ritter was fed up with the world and escaped with his girlfriend Dore Strauch (both were married and having an affair) to the abandoned isle of Floreana in the Galapagos Islands chain.  The two resided on Floreana alone for quite some time foraging for their survival by finding what they needed from the land only being visited by a sea captain and his crew every now and then.  When word about their secluded paradise hit the newspapers, Heinz and Margret Wittmer (and their teenage son) believed it to be the perfect escape for them as well seeing as how they worried about living in what they believed to be a deteriorating society.  The Wittmers landed on Floreana in the early 1930s much to Freidrich and Dore's dismay, but the two groups eventually figured out a way to deal with one another despite the fact that Friedrich was very discomforted by the notion that he wasn't living out his dream of solitariness anymore.

Shortly thereafter, the rich Baroness Von Wagner and two of her male confidantes landed on the small island of Floreana with the goal to build a hotel for visiting Americans and Europeans.  Needless to say, while Friedrich and Dore made do with the fact that the Wittmers landed on the island, at least that family shared his desire to be secluded from the rest of the world.  With the Baroness now attempting to capitalize monetarily on Friedrich's small piece of paradise, things inevitably were going to take a turn for the worse.

The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden is an interesting documentary that utilizes original writings of all the involved parties to tell its tale.  Through voiceovers by the likes of Cate Blanchett and Diane Kruger taking on the roles of Dore and Margret respectively, we get intimate knowledge about each family's feelings towards one another.  This aspect of storytelling is certainly compelling despite the fact that as things veer into disturbing territory, the original journals seem to be less than descriptive and often contradictory as each family attempts to "cover their ass."

Unfortunately, when the filmmakers attempt to showcase life on the other isles of the Galapagos chain by conducting current interviews of elderly folks who were around in the 1930s and younger folks who currently live on the islands, their film sometimes comes to a screeching halt.  These conversations aren't particularly compelling and don't add much to the overarching mystery of what happened on Floreana in the late 1920s/early 1930s.  Still, The Galapagos Affair is a decent portrait of a certainly little known historical anecdote.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+