leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (12/21/85)
ANTARCTICA
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: This is an animal film that adults
should enjoy as much as, or more than, children. It also has
some significant points to make about the relationship
between man and dogs. Well above average.
If you think that any film about animals is made for ages five to
thirteen, you can stop reading right here. I find that many Americans have
had their minds poisoned against animal films by seeing too many Walt Disney
TV shows with names like "Walter the Way-Out Walrus." Disney somehow
convinced the public that animal films as well as cartoons are really for a
juvenile audience, and while animated films have shown a few sparse signs of
recovery, the animal film has not. People seem to assume there is something
sugary and puerile about films like RING OF BRIGHT WATER and NEVER CRY WOLF.
Maybe the G-rating frightens people off. The Japanese film ANTARCTICA is
fine for a ten-year-old, though a seven-year-old might find it a little
frightening. But it does not talk down to its audience the way "Walter the
Way-Out Walrus" does, and it is aimed equally at an adult.
ANTARCTICA is a sometimes bitter film about actual events, though
obviously some of it was fictionalized where the facts were clearly
unavailable. In 1957 a Japanese expedition to Antarctica brought with them
about 20 sled dogs. Due to bad luck and worse planning, the dogs were left
chained up as one party left and another was to come. The dog's wait should
have been an hour or so but due to weather conditions the second expedition
was canceled. There was no way to return for the dogs. Dogs who had just
recently saved the lives of three men in the first expedition were left
chained and waiting for men who would never come. After long waiting some
of the dogs died on the chain. Some took their waning strength and broke
the chains that held them or slipped out of tight collars to earn their
freedom and begin a merciless battle for survival in a world with almost no
food. The plot follows two lines. One is the adventures of the dogs trying
to survive; the other follows conscience-stricken members of the expedition
as they return to Japan and find they cannot live out the lives they were
used to.
The production values of ANTARCTICA are mostly very good. The
photography of the Antarctic ice fields is done with real sensitivity. This
film, however, could not be made in the United States due to objections by
the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A disclaimer at the
end says that the dogs were treated with kindness, but I doubt that it could
say the same for a sea lion attacked by the pack of dogs. The dubbing
adequate, though at times not really convincing. Overall, though, the
dubbing does not matter. The film's strong points are the nature
photography and the story of the dogs. There it does very nicely. Give the
film a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper