Arctic Tale

 

 

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This movie contains some of the most amazing nature footage of all time - particularly from the incredibly difficult to film in arctic. Kids will love the story line and the "characters" of the bear and walrus. Adults who love Planet Earth or March of the Penguins will love the amazing shots and fascinating life-cycles of these two very different animals. The politics in it are unnecessary only if you feel the earth and future of these animals are too. Watch it on a big-screen TV if you can!

There is a fabulous 'making-of' documentary that's a bit too short (23min.), but a great bonus on this disc. The film itself has some amazing footage and is well worth viewing. (It took 15 years of the filmmaker's lives.) The only drawback for me is the choice in songs (which were once popular or trendy) - I would have preferred an experienced composer score the film in the predetermined light manner. But still, it's not distracting enough to change my 5-star rating.

It is impossible to shake the feeling that "Arctic Tale" was released not only because of the success of "March of the Penguins," but because of "An Inconvenient Truth." Instead of the Antarctic we are in Arctic, and instead of penguins we have a newborn polar bear cub, named Nanu (of the North I would imagine), and a newborn walrus, named Seela. This 2007 nature documentary, directed by Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson, follows the youngsters as they grow up in the hostile environment of the arctic. One of the production companies is National Geographic Films, but it would not be fair to say "Arctic Tale" is a National Geographic documentary of the type that we remember, especially with its theme music (but without the lyrics Albert Brooks supplied in the prologue of "Twilight Zone: The Movie"). In fact, given the ideological leanings of this movie, it is hard to say it is a "nature documentary."

"Arctic Tale" is cobbled together from 15 years of film shot in the frozen north. So this is most decidedly not a case of following around these two young cubs from birth to rebirth (to wit, the cycle of life). Nanu starts off accompanying her mother and her brother, while Seela has both a mother and an "auntie" (a designation that is social rather than biological). The lives of the polar bears and the walruses intersect at time in the story, although youngsters worried that Nanu is going to try and eat Seela--or adults wary that the two become unlikely friends in some arctic version of the lion and the lamb lying down together through the wonders of strategic film editing)--do not need to be afraid. However, parents should be forewarned that "Arctic Tale" is about trying to survive in a harsh environment. Neither polar bears nor walruses are vegetarians, and the grim fact is that these creatures have to eat to survive. That is made clear, although the filmmakers avoid being graphic in that regard. Consequently, in terms of what we see on screen this film is appropriate for children, and I think young viewers will understand the harshness of life up north and remember that more than the unnecessary scene supposedly showing us the joys of walrus flatulence.

The cinematography, as you would expect, is spectacular. However, the narration by Queen Latifa makes it clear that this is not just a nature documentary simply showing what happens and avoiding making editorial comments. Clearly these animals are threatened by global warming, and you know full well that that polar bears, walruses, and other arctic creatures are not responsible for that. Some of narration we hear is written by Kristin Gore, the daughter of the Oscar and Nobel Prize winning Al Gore, but she was also a writer for "Futurama," so she may well be responsible for the jokes we hear rather than the politics. As the reference to global warming start piling up I found myself being distracted by the rhetoric from watching what was happening to the animals, and that was enough to deduct one star.

Then we get to the end credits and young kids start spouting solutions to ecological problems, suggesting to young viewers that if your family does their laundry in warm water they are basically killing future Nanus and Seeles, then things are just going too far and I have to round down to three stars for my rating. There were critics who attacked "Happy Feet)" as being "an animated version of 'An Inconvenient Truth,'" which was pretty ludicrous to anybody who has seen the film that chastises humanity for throwing garbage in the ocean, over fishing, and zoos, but has nary a word about global warming. But "Arctic Tale" leaves itself open to such attacks, and if anybody is sitting on the fence regarding that score the end credits certainly force the issue. To be clear: I am not against the position being espoused here, but by how it is presented. The argument needs to be sustained by logic and not by emotions, even when it is being preached to the choir.

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