DVD of the Day • Never Cry Wolf

Never Cry Wolf
1983/ 105 minutes 
Walt Disney Video
PG

Cast • Charles Martin Smith, Brian Dennehy, Zachary Ittimangnaq, Samson Jorah
Writer • Curtis Hanson, Sam Hamm, based on the book by Farley Mowat
Director • Carroll Ballard

VE Family PICK

DISPATCHED BY AN INEPT BUREAUCRACY to confirm that wolves are responsible for the near extinction of the Arctic caribou, Tyler (Charles Martin Smith) finds himself, after a white knuckle biplane ride with an Alaskan sky cowboy, alone in the icy tundra. His first task is to get settled, with little to help him but a canoe, his bassoon and a couple of crates of carbon paper requisition forms. An old Inuit, Ootek (Zachary Ittimangnaq), discovers Tyler, tests his mettle and — finding some promise — rescues him from the subzero Arctic spring, only to disappear before Tyler can thank him.

Charged with finding Canis Lupis Arcticus and observing him in the act of killing a caribou, Tyler can't seem to find anything but mice. He manages, though, to keep his emotional bearings and to work out a way to coexist with the family of wolves whose territory he negotiates the right to share. When Ootek and his "son" return, the three men camp together, observing — and being observed by — the wolves. As far as Tyler can tell, the wolves survive on nothing more than the over-abundant mice — an hypothesis the potential plausibility of which Tyler confirms by switching to this form of sustenance himself.

Ootek rewards Tyler's respect for the wolves with Inuit folk talks. Tyler discovers the truth of the folk tales — if not an answer to the question of whether or not the wolves are responsible for the caribou's decline — as he struggles to claim a rightful place in his adopted environment.

Based on Farley Mowat's book (of the same title) about his experience studying wolves for the Ottawa Wildlife Service, Never Cry Wolf is refreshingly non-anthropomorphic, while at the same time never insistent on unbridgeable gaps between species (or peoples).   MORE AFTER THE JUMP

Charles Martin Smith's Tyler is an atypical hero — a plain man whose best tools are the sort of resilience required only by the non-heroic and a sense of humor which sustains him even when there's no one there to share it with him. His unassuming courage (which he must often muster as a result of his own ineptness), relentless self-consciousness, and quirky irreverence set him apart from the run of family film heroes who generally triumph through discovering their strengths rather than having to come to terms, as Tyler must, with their weaknesses.

Director Ballard's filmography is a short one, but he specializes in capturing the power and beauty of nature and the vastness of open spaces (The Black Stallion, '79, Wind, '92, Fly Away Home, '96, and Duma, '05). The cinematography, by Hiro Narita, complements Ballard perfectly, especially in the contrast between the breathtaking domain of the wolves and Tyler's restricted, though protective, environment.

Parents should note that even kids as old as 7 or 8 may need some coaching to make it through until the wolves discover Tyler (and the kids get the hang of his non-Disneyesque  persona), but once they've made it that far, it should capture them with its easy blend of adventure, comedy and nature film. • DEB AZRAEL

Comments

[myriam]

bonjour je ne sais pas parler l'anglais je viens de france essaye de traduir ce texte svp, alors voila j'ai vue votre film de l'étalon noir (the black stallion) est il est trop cool je voudrais vous demander si je pourais faire un film moi aussi de pur sang arabe noir si c'est possible répondais moi par mon email merci :)

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