Never Cry Wolf (1983)

In the landscape of Disney productions, "Never Cry Wolf" looks like a sort of accident. It's true that we're talking about a 1983 Disney production, not one of today. But even so, if you wouldn't have the reference in the credits or on the poster, you probably would not guess that such a non-commercial movie received its budget from the above source.

The film is based on an autobiographical book of a biologist sent to conduct a study in the isolated North of Canada, about the reduction of the caribou population, the main cause suspected at the time (before 1950) being the wolves in the area. There's to be mentioned that parts of the book remain debatable, from the accuracy of facts like wolves could mainly feed for a long time with small rodents up to accusations that claims of being a solitary expedition are completely fake. Even so, the publication apparently caused enough impact to clarify that the main issue was the excessive hunting, and not the wolves, which have their own role in maintaining the ecosystem. But, let's move back to the movie...

The director is Carroll Ballard, who only counts six feature films in his career, the majority revolving around a subject close to nature, and you can spot the clear tendency here towards a documentary. The cinematography is gorgeous, especially given that pretty much all is real stuff - we don't have artificial augmentations = the effects of today. What might come as a surprise is the density of surreal scenes, from repairing a plane during flight up to using a typewriter in the middle of a snow desert. But that's probably also the main factor that makes the movie likeable & non-boring. The second part tends to drag a little, and you're left mostly with the documentary side to keep you watching. Anyway, if you want a break from mainstream stuff, this is a pretty good option.

Rating: 4 out of 5