Never Cry Wolf (1983) - a REAL walk
on the wild side:
Review by Jack Kost.
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.
