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Reviews
The Last Lions (2011)
Mostly Masterful
I give this film a 9 for its technical mastery, its obvious good intentions and the gorgeous cinematography.
***SPOILERS AHEAD*** However, I'm afraid my immersion in the film's world, and my "suspension of disbelief" were sorely tested by the filmmakers' choices. Many audience members know that wildlife filmmakers take tremendous liberties with their story arcs, their substitution of one animal for another and their consistency of time, place and sound. These are necessary leaps that are simply required by the difficulty of the genre. But from very early on, when a huge elephant is shown advancing on the camera and stomping the ground angrily, and we are led by the saccharine narration to believe that it is trying to assault a pair of lion cubs... they lost me. You never see the cubs and the elephant in the same shot. Was the elephant even in the same country as the cubs? This technique is used to extremes -- the lion looks off to the left and you are told she is seeing her former mate who has been horribly mauled by competing male lions. But you never see her and the male lion in the same frame at this point (after seeing them - or is it them? - frolicking together earlier before the mauling). So did she ever really see him again? There are countless similar liberties, but I can see I'm sounding like a sourpuss so I'll stop here.
In any case, the film is beautiful, the intimate view of Mother Nature's cruelties and gifts is unique and moving. You will leave thanking God you weren't born a lion, and you will have a new or renewed concern for their well-being. My only wish is that the filmmakers hadn't expected so little of me as a viewer. I think you can enjoy the film and appreciate its mission and message even if you do see the flaws I saw. In fact, I hope I'm wrong, and I hope to read that the filmmakers did use only one lioness as the "star," so to speak. But go see it. You won't regret it. And give to support National Geographic's efforts in protecting lions and their habitat!
Cast Away (2000)
A bright, shiny package with nothing inside.
There is nothing below the shiny surface of this movie -- what did Hanks' character really "cast away?" He finds no perspective on his life or situation other than a similarity to tidal vicissitudes. He discovers no spirituality of any kind - not even when he buries the man who saved his life. He relates to a ball better than he ever did to his girlfriend or to her memory... & what does that teach him? Nothing that we can see. The strengths he is forced to find in his solitude are a mystery to us (besides making fire) & it's therefore a mystery as to how well or how badly these all-important, basic strengths translate to his "real" life, or to his "new" self. So again I ask what was "cast away" - & what was found? His bland relationship with Hunt's character? That's it? Seems he should've discovered, & cast away, a lot more on that island - & therefore returned home a richer man. Are we ever asked what is really hidden in every man's heart, underlying "civilization?" Or what use or meaning there is in a single solitary life? Oddly, no. I found the film sadly, strangely void. A deserted island is so fertile as a dramatic device, & yet it simply framed a film that itself felt deserted.