Flak Magazine: Review of Keep the River on Your Right, 6-01-01

It's this bizarre and compelling story that Keep the River on Your Right promises to tell. But although the film bills itself as "a modern cannibal tale," the gruesome details are among the least important. Keep the River on Your Right is first and foremost the portrait of a man who is both reporter and subject — the one who observes by becoming a full member of the group.

In Keep the River on your Right, you see artist and anthropologist Tobias Schneebaum giving lectures to cruise ships full of fat tourists. You see him blending into the Manhattan smart set at an auction to benefit the New Guinean tribe he once lived with. You see him at family gatherings on the Jewish High Holy Days. You see him reminiscing with withered-but-lively tribesmen in Peru, his eyes misting over as they talk about old hunts. And you hear about how he accompanied them on a deadly raid against an enemy tribe.

Keep the River on Your Right is the story of Schneebaum's extraordinary courage and surprising mental balance. Openly gay in the '50s and beyond (in a cameo appearance, ex-roommate Norman Mailer describes him as the "house homosexual"), he later shattered much stricter taboos by talking publically about taking male lovers in the wilds of New Guinea, and how a successful raid in Peru turned into a grim celebratory meal.

The documentary itself is nicely produced; with the exception of some hit-or-miss musical flourishes, the filmmakers are largely content to follow Schneebaum through his daily rituals in New York, on a trip to New Guinea and on an emotional journey back to Peru. Vintage television appearances and bits of appropriate pop culture lend a festive, Errol Morris feel to the documentary.

The film's only real fault is its unrestrained sympathy for Schneebaum — it repeatedly acknowledges his participation in jungle cannibalism, but doesn't really grapple with the ethical ramifications of it, leaving the audience to reach its own judgment, sans compass.

But it's hard to resist the almost saintly Schneebaum, and it's easy to understand why he gets an gentle ride from the film's directors, the brother and sister team of David and Laurie Shapiro. He tells his own story, willingly and at length, but without repeating himself or becoming a bore. He's thoughtful, articulate, and sometimes gut-wrenchingly sensitive; it's consistently moving to hear his observations on his remarkable life.

His trip back to Peru is emotionally scintillating, as are his reflections on the passage of time and the vagaries of memory. But what's most affecting is his interaction with the elderly tribesmen he finds. The natives really seem to like the guy. Forty-five years later, they're glad he came back, and by the end of the film, viewers will have gleaned enough of Schneebaum's honest, gentle personality to understand why.

— James Norton (jrnorton@flakmag.com)