The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden

This was a delightful combination of a true life murder story and a portrait of a place vitally important in the history of science. A German couple flees human society and the hints of another approaching world war in the thirties. He is a World War I Veteran and a retired doctor. She is an M.S. sufferer who idolizes the former doctor and aspiring Nietzchean philosopher. Both have left their respective spouses to come and live a Robinson Crusoe existence on one of the smaller of the Galápagos Islands. They are soon joined by another family and a woman travelling with two lovers who wants to build a hotel on the island. By the end of the period covered by the documentary the doctor and the hotel developer and both of her lovers are dead. Since the survivors wrote their memoirs and there was ample film footage of the Dramatis Personae, there is almost too much information. Yet at the end of the movie, we don't really know who killed who. We hear the words of each person, ably read by Cate Blanchett and other clear voiced German-accented people. We learn what became of the survivors and their children--who stayed and who went off on their own adventures. And during all this time, we see the animals of the Galapagos climbing over the rocks, gently eating from people's hands, less savage than the humans.

The story itself is fascinating, utterly fascinating and probably one of the most insightful looks into "civilized" human nature I have ever seen captured on film. The documentary is confusing though. The story is about three groups on Floreana but the film introduces all these other families, and it's impossible to keep track of the connections to each other. I couldn't figure out if they lived on Florena or another island. I still don't know. They were introduced as if they are a part of the story when they weren't. They were just offering opinions. Anyways it's an imperfect documentary that actually leaves out some interesting details I went on to read on my own after the doc but my rating is in terms of entertainment value overall.

I found this movie fascinating from several perspectives. First of all, it is the story of a supposedly everyday German couple that decide to abandon their regular lifestyle and head off to a remote location on the other side of the world. Wow you would think that this was a 60s couple heading off to Marrakesh! Well no, we have Friedrich Ritter a respected doctor, a veteran of the great war and also married. He decides to pack up and leave with his mistress Dore Stauch, also married, to live on the other side of the world.

This is no ordinary doctor, we are told that he loves Nietzsche, but not much else about his politics other than the fact that he comes from an old conservative family. Could it be like many artists and visionaries that he saw the future from this period in 1934 and didn't like what he saw?

We see the development of their life on one of the small islands of the Galapagos and its ups and downs. We are shown original movie footage and newspaper clippings which really lock you in. Next we see the arrival of the other settlers, the Wittmers and the Baroness and her entourage. The Baroness wants to develop a hotel for rich Americans and sure enough a ship full of them show up to explore the strange press tales that are being published. Again all original footage.

We also get to meet all the current inhabitants of the island and how their histories develop from the original settlers, this is also extremely interesting. It seems to me the Friedrich and Dore made a good decision to explore the world!

I have no regrets about seeing this unusual film. I don't think I've ever seen a documentary like it. The tale of a Nietzsche-inspired couple going off to live self-sufficiently on a tiny Galapagos island would be gripping enough. Add the other elements -- the "Baroness" who decides to settle on the island after them with her two lovers, and the bizarre and deadly events that ensue -- and it's really an amazing story.

Why, then, was the documentary so slow and, at times, dull? I think there were too many long, largely irrelevant interviews with people who lived on a nearby island. Their lives were quirky in their own way, but not that interesting, with little connection to the main story. I don't think it's bad to note that others lived on the Galapagos, but I don't think these interviews added much, and at times they were pure digressions. While not omitted entirely, they could have been cut dramatically.

This is a riveting true story, but only parts of the documentary are riveting.

No spoiler here, the mystery remains intact, even though there are ideas presented about the philosopher and his mistress, the Wittmer family who stayed, and the Baroness and her lovers who didn't stay. You can judge for yourself what you think really happened.

I recommend this film, which would not have been possible without the wonderful old films of Alan Hancock documenting the folks of Floureana. His expeditions not only gave us the film clips but also brought some of the comforts to the people on Floureana. You will see if those were good or not. The filmmakers did a fine job of putting together the film clips, the interviews and photos of the islands and telling a great story.

If you love Galápagos, if you have been there or are planning to go you should watch this lovely little history of some of the people who went and lived there on Floureana.