Today we look at a film about animals and the wilderness: an adaptation of the classic novel The Call of The Wild by Jack London.
What’s it like: Colourful, adventurous. Animal story, historical drama, wilderness scenery.
Plot: Buck is an exuberant and energetic dog, poorly disciplined, who frequently causes mayhem in his domestic home. An unexpected turn of events leads to him travelling to Yukon in north Canada during the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s. Here he begins to find a better role in life, mixing with other dogs and living with people in the outdoors: the postal sled service and retired man Jack Thornton (Harrison Ford). As Buck spends more time in the countryside, he gradually feels called more to the wildlife and wilderness around him ….
Comment: The film is v well-made and enjoyable. It’s the story of a dog gradually finding their proper role in life, through various ups and downs.
The story unfolds at a steady pace, with positive themes supporting authenticity, fairness and decency in life. It’s a real treat for anyone who likes animals and wilderness; and is also quite educative about north American society in the late 1800s.
This adaptation is aimed at family audiences. The tone is light and moderate; and the messaging clear and simple. Most of the main characters are v good and positive, while some of the baddies tend to be more comical than genuinely threatening. Overall, it is quite Disney-esque, although produced by Twentieth Century Fox studios.
The production is excellent, with good quality historical reconstruction of clothes, houses, towns and vehicles; and wonderful vistas of wilderness: forests, lakes, rivers, mountains.
On the acting front, Harrison Ford v good as the craggy, somewhat despairing old man Jack Thornton. Lesser known actors Omar Sy and Cara Gee do well as Perrault and Francoise, the spirited and optimistic operators of the postal sled service. There are short appearances from major names: Bradley Whitford (Josh in The West Wing) as Judge Miller, the dog’s decent first owner; Dan Stevens (Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey) as the foolish, selfish rich man Hal; and Karen Gillan (Jumanji and Dr Who) as Mercedes, companion of Hal.
While Buck is the main animal in the film, there are several other dogs and even wolves to the fore, as well as herds of deer. There may have been animal actors involved, but there is extensive use of CGI to depict the animals.
What the critics say: Despite all the above positives, the critics have not been particularly kind to this film, for two reasons. Firstly, the story is not entirely faithful to the book: it is much gentler, since in the novel Buck suffers much more before things come together for him and there is a lot more fighting among the animals. Secondly, in applying the CGI, the producers have the animals behaving in quite human ways much of the time – probably more than is realistic. It helps to tell a story but they have possibly been overly humanised.
What the public think: It’s been a moderate success (£2m in UK), though the public have not been bowled over, possibly because the story is quite traditional and old-fashioned and more appealing to older than v young children. The other current major children’s films have been much more successful: Sonic the Hedgehog (£18m in UK), probably since based on a computer game character; and Dolittle (£15m in UK), probably because of its impressive array of CGI animal characters and adventure story.
Viewers’ warning:Although aimed at a family audience, this has a PG certificate, because of some scenes of harsh treatment of animals and of animals fighting.
IMdb: 6.8/10 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7504726/
Metacritic: 47% https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-call-of-the-wild
Rotten Tomatoes: 61% https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_call_of_the_wild_2020
Verdict: 4/5 V enjoyable. V suitable for family viewing. An uplifting and quite moving story. V good to view, especially if you like animals and wilderness.
Background
The original book
The original novel ‘The Call of the Wild’ was by Jack London and published in 1903. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Call_of_the_Wild
It was enormously popular and acclaimed; and quickly became established as a classic.
London’s next book ‘White Fang’ was a mirror image of CotW: also set in Yukon in the 1890s, it was about a wild dog who became domesticated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Fang
Other film versions
‘The Call of the Wild’ has been frequently adapted for film – no less than eight times, besides the new 2020 version. The film dates are variously: 1923, 1935, 1972, 1976, 1993, 1997, 2000 and 2003, with actors such as Clark Gable, Charlton Heston and Richard Dreyfuss. All the films have been north American: it’s a v popular story there.
‘White Fang’ has also been made into a film several times, including a version in 1991 with Ethan Hawke.
Other animal films
These two have a similar style and theme: realistic depictions of animals in a natural environment
Born Free (1966) A v popular film telling the true story of Joy and George Adamson who raised an orphaned lion cub, Elsa, and released her into the wild. Based on the book (1960) by Joy Adamson.
It has a popular theme song which was No 1 in the UK and won the Oscar for Best Song. Sung by Matt Monro, it has a strong melody and some v good lines: ‘Born free/as free as the wind blows…. Born free to follow your heart.’
The Incredible Journey (1963) and Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993) Fictional story of three pets who are separated from their owners and embark on a long journey through the Canadian wilderness to be reunited with them. Based on the novel (1961) by Sheila Burnford.
Wiki: 1966 film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Journey_(film)
There are of course many other animal films, though of different styles:
eg cartoons: Bambi, 101 Dalmatians, The Lion King
charming children’s stories with v humanised animals: Babe, Charlotte’s Web
the film version of The Lion King (2019) does give good naturalistic depiction of African animals and their environment, but they are humanised and do talk and even sing !
13 March 2020
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