Krippendorf's Tribe
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Krippendorf's Tribe is a 1998 film adaptation of Frank Parkin's novel directed by Todd Holland.
| Krippendorf's Tribe | |
|---|---|
| Starring | Richard Dreyfuss Jenna Elfman Natasha Lyonne |
| Distributed by | Touchstone Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 27 February 1998 (USA) |
| Running time | 113 minutes |
| Language | English |
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
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, James reaches an academic stagnation back in the U.S., 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 James has described to the scientific community a culture unlike any other, the fraud becomes increasingly famous. James himself masquerades as a tribal elder, while his two sons enact increasingly imaginative and startling rituals dreamed up by themselves. 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, which they intend to bring to a conclusion.
Meanwhile, Ruth Allen travels to New Guinea, discovering there the absence of any tribe in the location specified by James. She transmits the news via telephone to a colleague of hers, who exposes James at a gala. James' imaginative son Mickey, urged by his sister, improvises a lie to this effect; that the Shelmikedmu had deliberately hidden themselves by means of a magical ritual known 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 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.
[edit] Cast
- Richard Dreyfuss - Prof. James Krippendorf
- Barbara Williams - Prof. Jennifer Harding Krippendorf
- Natasha Lyonne - Shelly Krippendorf
- Gregory Smith - Mickey Krippendorf
- Carl Michael Lindner - Edmund Krippendorf
- Lily Tomlin - Prof. Ruth Allen
- Jenna Elfman - Prof. Veronica Micelli
- Stephen Root - Gerald Adams
- David Ogden Stiers - Henry Spivey
[edit] Taglines
- The last undiscovered tribe is about to expose themselves.
- Discover the Tribe
[edit] MPAA rating
The film is rated PG-13 for sexual humor.
[edit] Movie trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- In one scene, James films his and Veronica's amorous activities for use as "footage" of Shelmikedmu mating rituals. While she is dancing, we see him slip behind a curtain to turn on the camera. Later on, we see the footage being played on a store's display TVs. Much of the footage shown is of her dancing before he turned on the hidden camera. Because of the angle of the shot, viewers can see that it was not taken by a different camera.
[edit] Quotes
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President Porter: What are they called?
James Krippendorf: What are they are called? They are called...
(He fumbles through his papers and finds a drawing by Edmund of "Shelley Mickey Edmund")
James Krippendorf: They are called the "Shel...mick...edmu."
(to his teenaged daughter)
James Krippendorf: Excuse me! Who is the adult in this room?...Don't answer that!
(Edmund opens the door to find Professor Micelli and a strange man)
Veronica Micelli: Oh, Pumpkin, do you remember me from yesterday? I'm Veronica Micelli, I'm friends with your daddy, and I've brought this nice reporter to ask a few...
(Edmund slams the door in their faces)
(Professor Krippendorf, with a movie camera, walks in on Mickey and Edmund, who are shirtless and painting their bodies)
Mickey Krippendorf: Hey! The Shelmikedmu do not allow their pictures taken without the ritual body paint.
James Krippendorf: Nicely put...
Mickey Krippendorf: It is our way.
James Krippendorf: Yo!
(James Krippendorf is trying to get his teenaged daughter to appear in the video shoot)
James Krippendorf: It's so nice, you know.
Shelley Krippendorf: (doing laundry) What?
James Krippendorg: The way you're always helping around the house, cleaning, cooking, doing all the things that Mom would normally do....
Shelley Krippendorf: The answer is no!
James Krippendorf: (pretending to be innocent) What?
Shelley Krippendorf: I'm not playing Boo-Boo the native girl!
James Krippendorf: It's just for one film!
Shelley Krippendorf: (walks away) You're a fraud.
James Krippendorf: I need you.
Shelley Krippendorf: (turns around, smiles) NO-WAY!
(Cut to Shelley dressed as a member of the Shelmickedmu in front of a hut)
James Krippendorf: Shelley! Catch the chicken!
Shelley Krippendorf: If it doesn't come in a bucket, I don't touch it!
James Krippendorf: Shelley, please catch the chicken! Don't break my heart, they're gonna repossess my hut if you don't catch the little sonofabitch!
Shelley Krippendorf: (catches the chicken) Now what?
James Krippendorf: Now, cook the chicken!
Shelley Krippendorf: (tosses chicken away) I just chased poultry through my backyard looking like Tammy Faye Bakker! You owe me!
James Krippendorf: Thank you, Boo-Boo.
