Never Cry Wolf
This Disney production, directed by Carroll Ballard, released in the United States on October 7, 1983, is a somber and beautiful nature movie, set in the snow-bound Canadian wilderness.
Charles Martin
Smith plays Tyler, a Government biologist, sent to the harsh and unforgiving
region to ascertain whether wolves are responsible for the alarming decline of
the Caribou herds.
On the
outset of his mission, Tyler encounters Rosie (Brian Dennehy), who initially seems friendly –
even though borderline psychotic, but later emerges as an astute fortune hunter.
Symbolizing the worst of mankind, Rosie is there only to destroy the habitat in
a money-making enterprise.
Early
in the story, Tyler is rescued and befriended by Ootek (Zachary Ittimangnaq), and learns about the
lifestyle of the indigenous Inuit people.
Never Cry Wolf is a visual feast; the landscape scenery is
breathtaking, and Mark Isham’s music score is haunting.
It’s based on the
autobiographical book by Farley Mowat, presented here as the character, Tyler.
The
slow and thoughtful pace of the movie is lightened with the comic scenes of
Tyler drinking tea by the gallon, and urinating around his base camp, scent-marking it as the wolf establishes his territory.
It turns into a battle of the
wills and bladders between man and wolf, until the wolf finally accepts the boundary of Tyler's territory.
Later,
Tyler learns the wolf is not the culprit and vital to the balance of nature:
culling only the injured and slowest Caribou – effectively keeping
the herd strong.
The wolves’ main food is the multitudes of field mice – of
which Tyler also chows on as an experiment, after the mice swarm his tent and
his own food reserves are depleting.
I
believe in conservation and I love the wolf in particular.
Never Cry Wolf is delicately compelling and melancholic.
I
empathized with Tyler, and appreciate the necessity to conserve and protect
this beautiful planet: our home.
One of
my favorite scenes is near the end: Tyler, with the heavy snow and the brutal
winter set in around him, sits at the edge of a lake and blows hard on a
bassoon.
The sound is heard by a distant wolf pack, and they howl back, acknowledging the distance between them, a declaration that neither Tyler, nor
the rest of mankind, belong there.
Never Cry Wolf moved me with two reflective and potent realities of the
region: sadness and silence.
Everything there seems to be on an inexorable path
towards extinction: the caribou, wolves, Inuit people, and even the habitat
itself.
The
illusion of a place where the only things to cut through the silence are the
howl of a wolf, or the wind, is that time appears to stand still.
Charles
Martin Smith and Brian Dennehy played great roles.
However,
like the wilderness, this movie belongs to the wolves.
One
particular line resonates with me, and I hope it never becomes prophetic of the
wolves and the plight of the natural world:
I
believe the wolves went off to a wild and distant place somewhere, although I
don’t really know, because I turned away and didn’t watch them go.
– Charles Martin Smith, as Tyler.
Recommended reading:
Never Cry Wolf
Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves
by Farley Mowat.
First published in 1961.
Back cover blurb:
More than a half-century ago the naturalist Farley Mowat accepted an assignment to investigate why wolves were killing Arctic caribou. Mowat's account of the summer he lived in the frozen tundra alone – studying the wolf population and developing a deep affection for these wild creatures (who were of no threat to caribou or man) – is today celebrated as a classic of nature writing, at once a tale of remarkable adventure and an indelible record of the myths and magic of wolves.
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