Moving Tale a Frigid Reminder

Somewhere deep in the arctic wilderness, a polar bear cub is poking her head out of her icy cave viewing the world outside of this frigidly warm enclave for the very first time. Her mother nudges her along, pushes her and her timid little brother to experience the snowy outdoor wonderland. For the next three years they will be together, mom and cubs attempting to conquer an inhospitable wasteland with guts, courage and instinct developed over centuries of evolutional love and devotion. 

A pair of Walruses get personal in Paramount Classics' Arctic Tale

Somewhere deep in the arctic oceans, a walrus is being born. With her mother and her side and tenacious aunt keeping away the predators, these three will bond over the next three years as a family unit exploring the frozen depths of the sea and the icy wilds of the shore above. With a seeming eternity of stored species knowledge at their disposal, together they will battle predators and the elements alike, forming a bond so personal and heartfelt you’d almost think it were human.

These are the animals at the center of the new ecological wildlife documentary Arctic Tale. Crafted over a fifteen-plus year period, married filmmakers Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson show the evolution of love at the top of the world these creatures proving to be fiercely protective and loyal using their wits and whiles to survive in one of the nature’s harshest landscapes. But it is the things outside of their control, the things slowly dissolving this wintry realm they and other species of animals call home which turn out to be the biggest threat to survival, humankind once again the one enemy neither can do thing to stop.

Like the eerily similar March of the Penguins, this Natural Geographic film is a visit to a strange world just about none of us will ever visit. It is also another example of the horrific effects of Global Warming, the shrinking world of both of these animals a sickening factor in the drama highlighted here. Some of the picture’s most striking imagery wouldn’t occur without this continued ecological calamity, polar bear and walrus alike braving the artic waters for five whole days of continued swimming in order to find both food and ice flows slowly vanishing from their territory.

The thing is, while I am the first to stand up and shout about the dangers of the climate crisis, I also don’t need to be hit over the head with what is going on in the world with a didactic sledgehammer. The film’s narration, read by a far-too bubbly Queen Latifah, is even more obnoxiously childish then the one found in that 2005 Oscar-winning penguin documentary. Giving the animals cutesy names like Nanu and Seela is bad enough, covering the entire end credits in sugary grade school lecturing (complete with a multi-ethnic cast of kids) and filling the whole thing with cliché pop music is almost inexcusable. I felt like I was being slapped around by a giant finger-wagging licorice stick, the cavity forming in my molars having nothing to do with either the Diet Coke I was sipping or the handful of Gummy Bears I was happily munching on.

Things could have been a heck of a lot worse, of course, and this really isn’t as gigantic knock against the movie as it probably sounds. The imagery in Arctic Tale is so stunning and the story it tells is so stirring I couldn’t help but be moved by it all. Watching these and the other animals go through their evolutionary journey was at times breathtaking, a magnificent scene of matronly sacrifice so emotionally poignant my heart nearly ripped right in two.

For these reasons alone this nature in evolutionary distress documentary would be worth the price of a matinee admission, but that’s not all Ravetch and Robertson’s film has to offer. There are scenes of sublime power and mesmerizing grace unlike any I have ever seen, while the saga of these animals and their familial bonds is far more profoundly moving then any I could have imagined. Arctic Tale may not be perfect, but it is a winner. More importantly, it’s another reminder for all of us to recognize our world is changing in ways we can hardly comprehend, and if that’s not enough of a reason for families of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities to see this picture then I don’t know what is.

Film Rating: êê1/2  (out of 4)

Additional Links:

-  Interview with Adam Ravetch by Sara Michelle Fetters
-  Arctic Tale Theatrical Trailer