6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
A young African boy named Gisani finds himself destined to protect a rare and magnificent white lion cub name Letsatsi.
Starring: John Kani, Thabo Malema, A.J. Van Der Merwe, Brendan Grealy, Jamie BartlettFamily | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Anyone who’s experienced the completely different world of a Studio Ghibli film knows how utterly unique a different country’s sensibility can be when it comes to crafting films, even films which more or less fit into a standard genre. Part of Miyazaki’s allure to so many is that he so effortlessly defies convention and refuses to give in to the Americanized three act, hero vs. villain rut which way too many movies fall into. Something of that same idiosyncratic spirit is alive and well in the charming, if extremely unusual, South African (live action) film, White Lion, a film that harkens back to fictionalized nature movies like Born Free while giving enough up close and personal, and often jaw dropping, nature photography to make it seem like something out of a Planet Earth episode or one of the old Walt Disney True Life Adventures series. This is a film with very slight ambitions which nonetheless is completely involving and even moving, as it tells—almost entirely via narration—the story of a white lion cub named Letsatsi who sets out on his own after having been banished by his own pride due to his unusual color. Playing out against Letsatsi’s adventures is the story of tribal youth Gisani, the son of the tribe’s healer, who is out to find the legendary white lion in order to bring back peace and prosperity to his tribe. One of the unusual elements of White Lion, and probably the one major factor that will perhaps keep it from jumping to the top of parents’ wish lists, is that virtually the entire film is related as a story told by an elderly African man to a bunch of assembled youth. This same framing device has been used repeatedly in film—one thinks especially of Korda’s version of The Jungle Book with Sabu—but here, there is virtually no dialogue even after the main story gets underway. Instead, we’re greeted by one stunning scene after another, with occasional bridging “storytelling” narration thrown in to keep us on track. If you can get past that atypical filmic device, there is a lot to love about White Lion, a film which mixes heart with its own fairly subtle environmental message, and which should delight younger kids especially.
White Lion features a stunning AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. There's only one minor problem with this transfer, and thankfully it does little to detract from the overall excellence of the Blu-ray presentation. That problem is occasionally fleeting digital noise across some of the heavily verdant topography the camera passes over, typically in aerial shots. If you can look past those very minor problems (and they are very minor), this is simply a gorgeous looking film (it won the South African equivalent of the Oscar for cinematography, and it's not hard to see why). Fine detail is simply amazing here, especially in the outstanding close-up shots of the lions and other animals which populate Africa. But the landscapes here are equally impressive, with jaw-dropping depth of field, lovely, gorgeously saturated colors and just an incredibly sharp picture which seems to almost literally open a window on the "Dark Continent." This is a film to be enjoyed as much as a travelogue as it can be for its inherent storyline about Letsatsi and Gisani, and on those terms alone, this is a stellar Blu-ray release.
White Lion's lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix may be subtle at times, but it's very immersive and involving, and fully brings to life the amazing sounds of the African veldt. The weird hypnotic laughter of hyenas erupts from the side channels as the trumpeting of elephants overruns the sub-woofer and rear channels. Birds flit to and fro and create sonic diversity all around the listener. Some of the effects sequences, as in a fire started by a lightning strike, are viscerally exciting and downright scary. The ubiquitous underscore is well mixed, if occasionally cloying, but the overall sound design here is marvelously rendered, with excellent fidelity and really expressive dynamic range.
Behind the Scenes (SD; 16:27) is an interesting featurette showing how Richardson wrangled the lions, but this film really could have benefited from a feature length commentary track which could have provided contextual information on how individual scenes were accomplished.
If you're a parent looking for something unusual to share with your children, or if you're a Planet Earth fan "Jonesing" for a new fix of nature photography, take a chance on White Lion. The film is unusually structured, with a narrative element that may be off-putting to those more used to the American emphasis on dialogue and action, but, oh, what imagery there is in this film. Highly recommended.
2018
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