movie: The Bear

Friday September 5, 2008
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I love this little Movie ..
The Bear
“ The greatest thrill is not to kill but to let live ! “

I want to preface this composition by reiterating my previous statements on other Blogs that I am not a card carrying member of PETA. But I am a compassionate individual and I respect Animals and their place in the grand scheme of our World.

Yes, I am in opposition to Circuses .. the ones with Animal Acts.
The Elephants are trained with pitchforks and sledgehammers. The large cats are heavily medicated and are trained with electrical laser devices. Make no mistake, this is conditioned stimulus, not training.

I may not be as adamantly opposed to Zoos but I am certainly not in favor of them, either. Who are we, as a people, to have the right to capture a wild creature and lock them up ? Why ? So 4th Graders can be bused in to see a wild animal ? These are not wild animals ! They’re nothing more than caricatures. If you want your child to see real wildlife, take them to Africa. Or .. better yet, let them watch a PBS sponsored Nature Show on HD TV.

Okay, I’ve spoken my mind as I feel the responsibility to do.

Let’s get on to this wonderfully produced and filmed Movie.

The Bear

In 19th century British Columbia, a grizzly bear cub romps around as his beloved mother looks for honey. The mother searches for honey in a bees' nest located at the base of a tree, above where there is a rock outcrop. As result of her digging, the mother bear loosens the rocks from the outcrop which tumble down upon her, crushing her to death. The now orphaned cub stays by his mother's body, refusing to leave her. After some time, the cub, his attention caught by a fluttering butterfly, wanders off up the mountainside.

Soon the young cub meets with a large male grizzly wading in a pool of water attempting to soothe a bullet wound inflicted by a pair of hunters. The male growls at the cub, warning him not to come closer. Wandering nearer, the cub begins licking the male's wound, initiating a friendship between the bears.

The hunters who had shot the male grizzly continue with their hunt and are joined by another hunter friend and a pack of hunting dogs. Finding the two bears, the hunters chase them over a ridge, sending their dogs after them. The male bear motions to the cub to hide and then faces to fight the dogs. But the male gets away over the ridge.

Continuing their chase, the hunters hear whimpers and find the cub huddled in a small rock shelter. The hunters take the cub back to their camp where the cruel, heartless bastards tease and torment him.

Continuing their hunt for the male, the hunters leave camp the next morning, leaving the cub tied to a tree but he, soon, gnaws his way free. The hunters reach the area where they believe the old male to be. The younger of the two hunters waits high on a cliff in the hot sun for the male. Eventually he leaves his gun at his post and goes to a nearby waterfall to cool himself.

Suddenly he is cornered, without his gun, by the male grizzly. Faced with the grizzly's menacing roars and snarls the hunter whimpers, pleading for mercy. The grizzly, seemingly affected by the hunter's distress, compassionately turns and leaves. The hunter jumps up, grabs his rifle, and follows where the grizzly began to make his way up to the higher elevations. He aims his rifle at the ascending grizzly but he experiences a sudden epiphany, and decides not to kill the bear. The hunters develop a new sense of compassion and leave the mountains and begin their trek back to civilization.

The bear cub is once again left alone. Later, he spots the old male bear, once again and attempts to strike up their earlier friendship but male bears do not travel with pals and most certainly not babies. And so the codgery old male runs the cub off. The baby bear tries, again, to befriend the old male but the old male makes it clear that he does not want his company. And so the cub is hungry and cold and lonely, once again. Traveling alone, the young cub is spotted by a large, fierce mountain lion. The lion begins chasing the cub along a riverbank. Eventually the cub comes face to face with the mountain lion with just a small stream of water separating them. Forced to defend himself, the young cub begins to softly roar at the lion. And in a brave but desperate effort to stay alive, the little guy raises his baby paw in the air to imitate a striking swat towards the lion. And again he softly attempts a roar.

Suddenly frightened, the mountain lion’s eyes grow wide with fear and he backs off from the cub, then turns and flees. And this is my favorite part of the whole adventure. The camera is stationed directly behind the baby bear showing this scene but begins to pan around and as you continue to hear the soft muffled roar of the cub, you finally see that right behind him is the massive old male bear and the soft roar of the cub is joined by the loud angry vibrating bass roar of the old male who has witnessed the apparent attack and scared the lion off. The most touching visual of the entire 90 minute video is of the baby bear eyes, thinking that he and he alone has scarred off the huge lion. Somehow believing that the mighty roar of the old male bear was actually his roar.

The cub, then, turns to see his friend and protector, and the old male embraces the helpless little cub.

The film concludes with Winter setting in and the two bears going together into a cave, settling down for hibernation and we see the young cub experiencing his first peaceful sleep since the death of his mother.

LARRY CURTIS SPURLOCK