the leading man is my tpye

People are voting emotionally.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is a documentary that was not originally photographed or filmed to be a documentary. The news clippings and '30s era home movies captured the lives of idealistic dreamers and isolationists trying to recreate paradise on the rugged coastal fringe of one of the least inhabited of the virtually uninhabited Galapagos Island group. The quirky castaway cast of this real life video diary seemed at once, deeply gratified with their aloneness while paired with a disenchanted mate seeking any form of domesticated animal companionship for a feeling of self-worth and value. Isolated introspective perfection for some, painful loneliness for others. We view in sharp Black & White clips, shabbily dressed family members standing on the front porch of their weathered tropical shack overlooking a rocky outcrop of brush and cactus while gazing off into the distant waters of Post Office Bay hoping to catch a first glimpse of sail threaded riggings signaling the return of a familiar 3-masted schooner with goods and well wishes from distant places and friends left behind. Somehow I found myself thinking about all of the present day larger than life personalities you find on the Alaskan survival escapist shows and their gold lusting neighbors. Hardy individuals living on the edge of society to pursue their survivalist dreams and pull riches from the grounds they farm or pan. This is a documentary about socially awkward characters whose lives take a disruptive turn when the Baroness, soon to be slutty Piratess, arrives on the craggy island paradise with her salt and pepper boy toys.Unattractive and delusionally self-assured the flagrantly promiscuous Baroness, of dubious royal heritage, becomes the flamboyant center point of islander society. Territorial infringement, water rights disputes and expected jealousies create a constant undercurrent of distrust and friction. In the midst of growing tensions we're suddenly treated to a revealing view of the Baroness's talents amply on display in intriguing scenes from the locally acted and produced movie, "The Piratess". An aaarg-rated must see!After laying down sufficient backstory things start happening, dreadful things. People go missing, more people go missing, dead people are found and others remain mysteriously nowhere to ever be found. I really enjoyed this stitched together artsy documentary and plan to let it sink in for awhile before watching it again.

"The Galapagos Affair" is a very strange but enjoyable documentary. However, it has a huge strike against it--what exactly happened on the tiny island of Floreana really isn't clear--even all these decades later. The film begins in the late 1920s. A couple of weird people abandon their spouses and run off to the Galapagos Islands. Their goal is to completely abandon society, to they move to the uninhabited island of Floreana and are, briefly, all alone. Oddly, however, a short time later another family moves to the island. Since Friederich and Dora came to the place to be alone, they aren't exactly thrilled to have new neighbors. Amazingly, a short time later, a wacky baroness arrives with her lovers and she announces she's going to turn the island into a resort for the rich and famous. Now it was easy to dislike Friederich and Dora (they really were selfish and nasty folks), you couldn't help but assume the film will climax with the pair killing off their new neighbors in order to stay all alone. Well, this is NOT what happens. But what does happen really is wide open to conjecture. The baroness and one of her lovers MIGHT have been murdered but there really isn't any concrete evidence that this is the case. Because of this, the mystery isn't necessarily very satisfying and the film, while quirky, isn't exactly satisfying to watch. Strange, yes, however.This is a technically well made film--featuring a lot of film clips, photos and interviews. But it also is one that leaves you scratching your head. You THINK some murders occurred...but then again, they might not have. So, because of this, your overall enjoyment of the piece is certainly far from certain.

A documentary telling the story of some early European settlers and the strange disappearance and deaths of some of them. It is told using actual footage, photographs and writings from some of those involved and some of the surviving ancestors. I found this to be a fascinating and absorbing film about interesting real life characters trying to find their own bit of paradise in a beautiful but ultimately hostile environment. It doesn't try and solve the mysteries but instead gives you the facts and let's you decide for yourself. In particular I loved the grainy black and white film of the people that really brings the story to life. This is one of the better documentaries I have seen. It will only find a limited audience but if like me the subject matter strikes you as interesting then it's well worth watching.

Although this documentary could have used a little better editing, at 2 hours long, I still found it a fascinating tale.It begins in 1929, when Dore Straunch and Friedrich Riiter decide to leave their families and careers, in Germany, and move to the uninhabited island of Floreana, in the Galapagos Islands, West of Ecuador. They have had it with civilization and want to live a new life in virtually total isolation away from the world.However, some of their writings back to Germany are leaked to the press, who paint them as a modern version of Adam and Eve or the new Robinson Crusoes. In time (1932), another family the Wittmers, having read about the Ritters, come to Floreana to also get away from the world, much to the resentment and chagrin of the Ritters.The Wittmers, also German, consist of Margret, her husband Heinz, and their son Henry. They take up residence on the far side of the island, away from the Ritters. Soon though, the self-proclaimed French Baroness Eloise von Wagner also arrives on the island with her two minions Robert Philippson and Rudolf Lorenz. The Baroness is quite domineering and soon causes friction with the other islanders, as well as possessing a wild scheme of building a hotel there geared for millionaires.In time, the tension and bad feelings between the inhabitants of the island begins to boil over, and when they're hit with a drought in 1934, it will lead to a point of no return. There will be threats, mysterious deaths and most likely murders occurring.The movie is enhanced by actual film footage of all the island dwellers, and although we don't hear their voices their journals and writings are read effectively during the film to coincide with the what's happening on screen. I was quite surprised to see the list of movie notables who were doing the reading during the run of the credits.All in all, I found this documentary, directed by Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine, to be quite fascinating and interesting, based on a subject I knew nothing about before viewing it.