BORN TO BE WILD (WB, 2011) D: David Lickley. Rating: NNNN Blu-ray package: NN Rating: NNNN
Born To Be Wild is only 40 minutes long but highly re-watchable. The orangutans and elephants that inhabit virtually every shot are an endless source of beauty and wonder, and the shot-for-Imax 3-D visuals translate very well to the home screen.
Deep in the Borneo rainforest, Birute Galdikis runs a rescue centre for orphaned orangutans. She and her staff provide food, love, near-constant attention and a safe environment where the apes can learn the skills they need to live in the wild. On the high Kenyan savannah, Daphne Sheldrick runs a similar shelter for elephants.
Director David Lickley gets a steady stream of fantastic shots. Those of humans and animals interacting on an equal footing speak to the myth of our union with nature, but the ones of the creatures alone or with each other prompt a more visceral response. Personally, I’m captivated by the images of elephants mooshing their bodies together for a mud wallow and of an orangutan wading chest-deep in a jungle stream.
Lickley got his shots by lugging 30,000 pounds of gear into the rainforest. That’s something you’ll learn in the extras – half a dozen three-minute webisodes looking at the shoot, the sanctuaries and the staff.
EXTRAS Webisodes. English, French, Spanish audio and subtitles.
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