Krippendorf's Tribe

Krippendorf's Tribe

Theatrical release poster
The tagline reads: "The last undiscovered tribe is about to expose themselves."
Directed by Todd Holland
Produced by Larry Brezner
Ross Canter
Whitney Green
Screenplay by Charlie Peters
Based on Krippendorf's Tribe
by Frank Parkin
Starring Richard Dreyfuss
Jenna Elfman
Natasha Lyonne
Lily Tomlin
Music by Bruce Broughton
Cinematography Dean Cundey
Edited by Jon Poll
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates
  • February 27, 1998 (1998-02-27)
Running time
 94 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $7,571,115

Krippendorf's Tribe is a 1998 American film adaptation of Frank Parkin's novel of the same name, directed by Todd Holland. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss as the eponymous professor, along with Jenna Elfman, Natasha Lyonne, and Lily Tomlin.

Plot

Respected anthropologist James Krippendorf (Richard Dreyfuss) and his wife, Jennifer (Barbara Williams), bring their three children along during their much-enjoyed search in New Guinea for a lost tribe. The search fails, despite the family's best efforts. After Jennifer's death back in the U.S., James falls into academic stagnation, having spent all his foundation grant money raising the children as a single parent. Scheduled to lecture at a college and fearful of being charged with misuse of grant funds, James concocts an imaginary tribe, the Shelmikedmu, using the names of his children as a basis. He later fakes a 16 mm "documentary" film, casting his children as tribe members and superimposing footage of a legitimate New Guinean tribe so as to enhance the illusion.

Anthropologist Veronica Micelli (Jenna Elfman) contacts cable-TV producer Henry Spivey (David Ogden Stiers), forcing James to continue creating fraudulent footage as James' rival Ruth Allen (Lily Tomlin) becomes suspicious. Because he has described a culture unlike any other, Krippendorf's fraud becomes increasingly famous. James himself masquerades as a tribal elder, while his two sons, Mickey (Gregory Smith) and Edmund (Carl Michael Lindner), create and enact increasingly imaginative rituals. Only the eldest child, James' daughter Shelly, refuses to participate due to her disgust at the dishonesty perpetrated by her father.

Taking advantage of her curiosity, James tricks Veronica into participating in his false documentary. When she discovers the truth, she is initially angry, but later helps James continue his fraud. Ruth Allen travels to New Guinea, discovering no tribe in the location specified by James. She transmits the news via fax to a colleague, who exposes James at a gala. James' imaginative son, Mickey, improvises a lie, that the Shelmikedmu hide by means of a magical ritual known only to them.

Unknown to the majority of the characters, Shelly has contacted the New Guineans befriended by her family during the futile search for the lost tribe, urging them to masquerade as the Shelmikedmu in order to disappoint Ruth Allen. The ruse succeeds, and the accusation of fraud is abandoned. James, relieved of his worries, ends his fraud. Because Veronica has become sexually involved with him during her participation in his deceit, she assumes the role of a mother toward the children, though she is not explicitly said to marry James.

Cast

Release

Box office

Krippendorf's Tribe opened at #7 in its opening weekend with $3,316,377.[1] By the end of its domestic run, the film grossed $7,571,115.[2]

Critical reception

The film received generally negative reviews; review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 14% rating.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Weekend Box Office Results for February 27-March 1, 1998 - Box Office Mojo
  2. ↑ Krippendorf's Tribe at Box Office Mojo
  3. ↑ Krippendorf's Tribe at Rotten Tomatoes

External links

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