THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1992 # & Sean Connery as a scientist in the rain forest, in “Medicine Man” ~ Phil Bray/Buena Vista Pictures Color the Movies | Enlightened Green By MAITLAND McDONAGH INVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ‘were once the domain of documentarians, but re- cently a broad spectrum of film makers has begun ex- ploring so-called green issues. Last, year, Hector Babenco’s “At Play in. the Fields of the Lord” examined the exploitation of the rain forest and its indigenous cultures, while Michael Lehmann’s ‘‘Meet the Applegates’’: and David Zucker’s ‘Naked Gun 214” took comic approaches to ecological concerns. Now more green films are on the way. “Medicine Man” (opening Fri- day). This romantic comedy with a message revolves around a scientist who has found — and lost — a cure for cancer in the rain forest. Under pres- Maitland McDonagh has written, about film for Entertainment Weekly. sure from the pharmaceutical com- pany that has bankrolled his work, he must recreate his original research and take a stand to protect the fofest itself, which is threatened by develop- ers. The film stars Sean Connery and Lorraine Bracco, with Mexican land- scapes standing in for the Brea ian rain forest. e@“Amazon” (Feb. 28). An nae .ture film with principles, “Amazon” concerns a businessman who finds himself broke and desperate in Bra- zil. Drawn into.a plan to bulldoze a remote jungle area in search of gold and diamonds, he learns respect for the the environment from a Brazilian schoolteacher and the primitive Indi- ans who nurse him back to health after an accident. Starring Robert Davi and Rae Dawn Chong, “Ama- zon’ was filmed in Brazil by the Finnish director Mika Katirismaki, who wrote the screenplay with Rich- ard Reitenger (“Wings of Desire”). e@“Ferngully: The Last Rain For-mated feature ak » An mip “Ferngully” takes place in a et of unspoiled rain forest filled y fairies and creatures whose ex- istence is threatened when a logging. ~ W releases an evil spirit from an cient tree. Directed at young audi- ces, ‘“Ferngully”’ casts its environ- ‘tian Slater, Cheech Marin, Tommy and Robin Williams are fea- , algng with songs from Thomas Elton John and the children’s © Raffi. _®"The Frankenstein Complex” (summer). Larry Fessenden’s inde- dent thriller sets a romantic tri- lé, against a backdrop of issues ging from animal rights to organ- ic farming. In the film, a woman w husband is engaging in unethi- | medical experiments falls in love an environmentalist (played by the avant-garde composer and per- former David Van Tieghem). As the film’s ifispirations, the producer, Ra- chael Horovitz, credits the pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson whose book “Silent Spring” first ar- . were * literally poisoning the world) and Mary Shelley; the author of “Frankenstein.” i _.®@Chico Mendes film: (no title or release date). Through passive’ re- sistance, the Brazilian rubber tapper Yancisco (Chico). Mendes led a grass-roots movement to save the Amazon from development, cultiva- tidn and cattle-raising. His murder in 1988 by wealthy ranchers precipitat- éda‘flurry of interest ftom Holly- wood for rights to‘his story. With David Puttnam (‘‘Chariots‘bf Fire’’) ‘as its producer, the story of Mendes’s life and death is in active develop- ment at Warner Brothers and is ten- tatively scheduled to be filmed this ~ year, ts y-trained Bill /that modern science and indus- » ‘A scene from the forthcoming animated inusical“Ferngully: The ] as about fairies and other creatures imperiled when a logging crew 1 “© “A Day of Two Suns” (no release date). Based on the life of David McTaggert, founder. of the environ- Filmmakers are , dealing with —- environmental —_—* issues through comedy, % romance, drama and animation. mental organization Greenpeace, ‘“‘A Day-of Two Suns”’ is in development. The story follows the politically con= servative land developer ashe be- comes aware of the impact of nuclear testing on the atmosphere aiid begins a crusade that eventually results in a worldwide ban on the practice. LP ag ¢“Ecotopia” (no release. date). This science-fiction thriller is set in a harsh future when the ruined ozone layer has driven mankind indoors, away from the sun’s lethal rays. A new Garden of Eden is the hope of the futuré: “‘Ecotopia” features Baltha- zar Getty, Drew Barrymore, Alice Krige and Amanda Plummer; the producer Kees Kasander’s credits in- clude “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and .Hef. Lover”. and “Prospero’s Books,”’both directed by Peter Gree- naway. “Ecotdpia,” which fuses the ‘words. “ecology” and “utopia,” is: also the title of a futuristic environ- Mental novel by Ernest Callenbach, . ‘but the film is not based on his book.)