Could It Be… Satan?

We’ve all dreamed of escaping to a remote island and starting a new life, far removed from today’s nonstop traffic and iHell. And while 2014’s barrage of ads, fads, and selfies is much greater than it was in the 1930s, even back then, society’s overload was enough to make two lovers flee city life and start anew on an uninhabited island in the Galapagos. That is, until the press did what it does best: sensationalize it. Thus begins The Galápagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden, a documentary-slash-film screening this Friday at both Cinema Paradiso locations. Featuring the voices of Cate Blanchett, Diane Kruger, and Thomas Kretschmann, it chronicles the exploits of physician Friedrich Ritter and mistress Dore Strauch — dubbed “The Adam and Eve of the Galapagos” — who seek isolation and a “rudimentary existence” based on a Nietzsche philosophy. Soon after the press blows the lid off their bare-bones island lifestyle, intruders arrive — including one family who fancies themselves a Swiss Family Robinson of sorts, and an Austrian baroness with plans for a luxury hotel. The island soon becomes a murder scene when the groups realize there isn’t a place for all of them in paradise. The film mixes contemporary footage with stills and newly discovered footage from 1930s Galapagos. It’s on a limited release in the U.S. and debuts Friday at 6 p.m. at Cinema Paradiso’s Fort Lauderdale location and at 1:30 and 5:45 at its Hollywood location. The film runs through May 22.
Fri., May 16, 6 p.m., 2014