Canadian Film Forum

Mira Bella · Trimis: 03/02/2011 16:09 Titlul subiectului: Cry of the Wild

“CRY OF THE WILD” is a documentary made by Bill Mason in 1972, and is considered a very successful feature-length film. This documentary shares Mason’s passion for wolves and film-making. He makes the distinction between big timber wolves and pure white Arctic wolves. Mason spent almost three years to shot his movie, the locations beeing the Nothwest Territories, British Columbia and Canadian Arctic, as well as at the Mason’s home, in the Gatineau Hills, where he grew three young wolves. Here he filmed there customs, mating and also birth of the cubs.

The documentary starts with the camera fixed on the moon, with black clouds crossing it’s shine. The image is very suggestive for the rest of the story, because the film reveals two different characteristics of the wolves: ferocity and friendship. The effect of the image is successfuly completed by the howel of the wolves in the night. After that,we have a close-up on a wolf, sorrounded by trees, and a very strange light, a sort of dark blue. This image gives the feeling of mistery and danger. The moon is blured behind a pack of wolves that are eating the capture. Than the camera follows a wolf, and imediately after that we have a descriptive static image, an extreme long shot of the place were Mason will stay to observe the wild creatures. The dark image of night alternates with paceful images of sunrise, with blured trees as a frame.

The next sequence presents Mason’s arrival by plane, shoted from contra-plongee. This shot presents the moment in which the peace of the frozen land is interupted by the landing of the plane. Then, in a medium- long shot, is presented a flock of cariboo running into the imensity of snow. The next shot is an extreme close-up of the Mason’s face, turning his eyes over the snow. What is next is a succession of medium- long shots of the cariboo, the men and his equipment and again the cariboos. These scenes are followed by extreme close- ups of the Mason’s first activities in the snowland: cutting wood for fire and prepairing the tea. It seems that these are the first necessities there. Another extreme close-up is on fox, presented not as a dangerous animal, but as a currious creature. These images are presented while Mason says that not of animals one should be afraid there, but the cold. During the whole film the teapot and the fire are always in extreme close-ups, as his filming camera and the modalities of living in this parts.

In a medium- long shot is the image of a dead cariboo, as a sign that wolves had passed by. Imediately after we have an extreme close-up of Mason’s face, very red and searching with the eyes blinked for the wolves. This close-up altrnates with an extreme long shot ( a plongee), of the man walking on the snow. The image is framed by the blured branches. Next shots are a seies of extreme long shots and medium long shots, alternating the panoramic views and the figure of Mason, so that we could understand how small he felt in that white vastness.
Next images are as series of approaches from extreme long shot to medium long shots and present the appearance of wolves. A very interesting shot is taken when a wolf tried to hunt a cariboo from a flock. The camera followes the run of cariboo, in a very big speed, and than the stop of the wolf, recognizes itself defeated. After that, we have images shoted from the plane, in plongee.
As the film goes on we meet extreme close-ups of the rests of animals, cariboo and even wolves, with blured images behind, and ususaly following the rule of the diagonale. Are presented a lot of dead animals, because of various reasones, using medium close-ups, and even extreme close- up for a moment when he cuts a dead animal body.
Mason’s desire was to film a hunting scene, but he never succeded. He has just few scenes of wolves already eating the cariboo, in long shots and blured images.

As the film progresses, we have a lot of close-ups and extreme close-ups shoted at Mason’s home, in the north of Quebec, where he better observes the three young wolves, kept in captivity. The centre of interest is always the wolf and its pack. We have long shots and medium long shots especialy on the moving scenes and on the opposite, we have close-ups and extreme close-ups on the static and descriptive shots. Kept on captivity, wolves are friendly, they accept human as a friend, not as an enemy. That is why are presented close-ups of wolves playing with an, eating, and even an extreme close-up when the cubs are born. In these moments camera rests unmoved for apoximately 2 minutes. We have extreme close-ups of the way the cubs were feded by chilred alternating with close-ups, and also close-ups of moments of affection between mother and cubs.
This sequences are, reason why the camera is in a continuous movement.

After the cubs were big Mason took three of them and transported them by plane into the north, to see if they could survive by there own. We meet again long shots and mediun long shots, blured backgrounds and frames, with the wolf in the centre of interest.
Mason was waiting to see his wolves hunting, and when the cariboo apeared the camera moved continuously between the two species. When the wolves approache by the cariboos they start to run, and the image “runs” in the same time over them and over the forest, transmiting the feeling of panic. But suddenly the movement stopes, and the camera too, with the wolves in the focus. They didn’t succed to hunt, so Mason understands that he has to take them back home. His feelings are related through a close-up, where we can see him frowning and dissapointed. In the same close-up we see the wolf coming and fowning to Mason.

The film ends with the same image of the moon, and if at the beginning the negru clouds were uncovering the moon, now the same black clouds are covering it, as the story comes to the end.
Taking into account the harsh conditions of filming and the riscs the cameraman exposed, we can say that it is a very good film from the film grammar point of view. The shots expressed very well the story and completed very good the meanings. The film was made in a simple way, maybe in that years the technology was at a medium level, there are no special effects, but in my opinion the film deserves all the appreciation.

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