DTH Omnibus Page 9
Thursday November 16, 1989
C 11 INI IE M A
Finally! A
The Bear
Youk and Bart the bears
directed by Jean-Jacques Arnaud
Ram Triple
967-8284
ooooo
f I sound reverent as I write about
The Bear, the new film by Jean
m Jacques Arnaud (Quest or Fire,
$ The Name of the Rose), that is
because I am. The Bear is one of the
most satisfying movies I have seen
this year, because it takes nothing to
excess, and yet nothing is lacking.
The story is conventional in struc
ture, but what the film does with the
standard nature-adventure film is fresh
and innovative. It is technically daz
zling, but also deals emotional blows
that are sometimes subtle and often
profound.
I am only going to give the most
profunctory of plot summaries for this
film, because no matter how I relate
the story of The Bear, the emotional
power of the film will be lost in the
translation. When described, the story
of two bears becomes treacly sweet
and false, which is the exact oppo
site of my reaction to this film. Eve
rything about The Bear is natural,
which is what makes it.such a pleas
ure to watch.
A little bear (Youk) is orphaned
when his mother is buried in an ava
lanche. He wanders around the wil
derness of 1885 British Columbia,
until he wins the companionship of
a massive male bear (Bart), whom I
will call Big Bear, by licking the
gunshot wound Big Bear received
from a bear-hunter's rifle. The two
bears become inseperable. The Big
Bear admires the Little Bear's naive
courage and persistence, and the Little
Bear tries to learn from Big Bear's
vast experience.
Unfortunately, the happiness of
this odd couple is marred when the
hunters who tried to kill Big Bear
Day 142 The shark
are circling ever closer
with tlie jjrowQuj certainty-
that they wul soon jet '
thetr"prey. J have lost all
hope of rescue.
Sea. of Omnibus
IPeather Is beautiful. IVtsh you were here.
Look Who's Talking
Nightly 7:309:30 (PG-13)
V
jSnt 8. din MatiiuA 9iM4iM
s
UAH
Nightly 7:00 9:10 (PG)
Sat & Sun Matinee 2:004:10
THE BEAR
Nightly 7:009:10 (PG)
n
'7l
film about animals that isn't sappy
Zandy Hartig
resurface. They are obsessed, and
pursue the two bears religiously. This
is all I am going to write about the
plot, because I do not want to spoil
the story for any potential viewers.
What I find fascinating about The
Bear, paradoxically, is its simplicity
and its complexity. Simplicity, in that
it does not make unnecessary cheap
shots at the viewer. The film pres
ents nature and man as they really
are, instead of altering their charac
ters to make the story more palat
able. Arnaud, like many other French
filmmakers, is concerned with depict
ing the world as it appears naturally,
not as people expect it to be. His
characters, both animal and human,
behave genuinely and show both their
loving and their destructive sides,
from which The Bear derives its
complexity.
Man can be vicious, arrogant and
greedy, which Arnaud shows in the
hunters' desire to kill bears just for
their skins. However, man is also
capable of forgiveness and sensitiv
ity. The hunters send for their dogs
to facilitate the hunt for the Big Bear,
and the younger hunter is overjoyed
when he sees his favorite mangy dog
come bounding toward him. In this
instance, man and animal dance
around each other, sharing their joy
in each other's presence, the dog
standing on its hind legs like a hu
man, the man howling like a dog.
The barriers between beast and
humanity are rendered less distinct,
and the moviegoer can see that man's
reconcilliation with nature is not such
an impossible feat.
Likewise, the bears are capable of
both violence and affection. Big Bear
seeks revenge upon the hunters who
XHE
Saturdays 7 am-12 noon
Roberson St., Carrboro
On sale will be fresh and dried
wreaths, Chinese vegetables,
sweet potatoes, broccoli,
califlower, lettuce, spinach,
organic vegetables, fresh baked
goods, fruitcakes, gourmet
food, goat cheese, eggs, herb
vinegars, honey, jams, jellies,
pickles, and unusual crafts for
Christmas. As always all prod
ucts are locally grown and made
by participating vendors. So
visit the Farmers' Market to buy
or browse. Bring a friend
or meet a new one.
RAIN OR SHINE
Open 'til December 16
Some items not avaaable on Tuesday.
shot him. He has no reservations in
inflicting serious harm to them, or
even an to an innocent victim, the
hunters' horse. Big Bear kills a deer
brutally, and he initiates Little Bear
into the joys of being a carnivore,
both bears tearing into the bloody
flesh with glee, afterward falling asleep
contented, their snouts stained with
blood.
Yet the bears are also tender. When
the Little Bear's mother dies, he is
completely confused. He has never
experienced death before and does
If Youk or Bart won
an Oscar, how would
they look in tuxedos?
not know what to make of it. He
tries to paw his mother awake, but
she remains lifeless. Yet even in the
midst of his utter frustration, the Little
Bear is distracted by a butterfly and
plays with it, his mother's carcass lying
right beside him. To the young, death
does not seem grave because it is
incomprehensible.
Life and beauty are what attract
the Little Bear, and it is only when
these objects are not in his presence
that he realizes how alone he actu
ally is. When the butterfly disappears,
he starts to feel frightened. In des
peration, the Little Bear sleeps next
to his mother's cold body, his own
tiny body quivering with sadness. The
Little Bear's feelings are so true and
(perhaps this is arrogant to say) so
human and childlike, that I felt my
self close to tears.
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Because both humans and bears
alike are depicted so honestly, it is
not so easy for the viewer to make
value judgements. The men are not
completely bad, and the bears are
not completely good. However, the
difference between them is that the
"animals" behave naturally; all their
violence stems from their instinct to
survive, while the human's violence
is mostly from greed.
The only moral statement Arnaud
wants to relate to the viewer is that
man should learn from nature, and
should not try to transcend its laws.
We cannot play God, because if we
continue to act as if we can usurp its
power, nature will seek revenge upon
our arrogance.
But the statement I just made
makes The Bear seem too serious $nd
didactic, when in reality it is mostly
just an excellent story, with wonder
ful cinematograpy and incredible
acting, especially from the bears, Bart
and Youk. I am convinced that ani
mals are the best actors. They are
completely convincing and compel
ling, and they never even studied
with Uta Hagen. I would love to see
either Youk or Bart win an Oscar. I
wonder how they would look in tuxe
dos. Although there are many issues a
The Ratings
O miserable
GO mediocre
OOO enjoyable
OOOO quite good
OOOOO unmissable
Shocker (R)
The Fabulous Baker
V'
rARSITY
"THIS IS WHAT GOING TO
It reaffirms everything
Sallv
-JefTnjr Lvms,
FIELD
Dolly
PAK1DN
Shirley
MACLAINE
Daryl
HANNAH
Olympia
DUKAKIS
Julia
ROBERTS
OPENS
WixjJi fill JCrfc
r I i
child might find difficult to grapple
with, such as death, sex and human
greed, I would much rather take a
kid to see The Bear than to see a
Care Bear movie, because the former
deals with issues honestly and does
not insult any viewer's intelligence.
Adults and children alike will find
this movie enthralling at all levels.
For all its technical brilliance, the
real testament to Arnaud's master
piece is that moviegoers, by the
middle of The Bear, stop asking "how
did he get those bears to do all that
stuff?" and give themselves up to the
magic of his film completely.
Top Ten Films
Figures indicate total gross
1. Look Who's Talking
$74.3 million
2. The Bear
$16.3 million
3. Dad
$6.3 million
4. Shocker
$12.6 million
5. Crimes and Misdemeanors
$9.1 million
6. Staying Together
$2 million
7. Second Sight
$4.2 million
8. Sea of Love
$53.4 million
9. Next of Kin
$13.7 million
10. Black Rain
$43.1 million
mmm
mi
y.
7:15 9:30
Boys (R) 7:00 9:15
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