Never Cry Wolf (1983)

Never Cry Wolf begins with a quiet sense of loneliness, a series of images. From place to place, you feel your eyes wander to the things you see around you. There's no big surprise, no big action sequence or dramatic turn of events. Only a slow realization, like with Tyler, of just what you're getting yourself into. His voice fades into the mix, if only to let you wander in on his thoughts. He has no grand statement to make. Only questions and hopes.

One of, if not the first thing that you notice is the music of Mark Isham. Perhaps driven by youthful bravado (this was his first film score), Isham eschews any traditional dramatic production. Instead, he goes for an alternating mix between wavering uncertainty and pounding passion. His soundtrack over the title sequence plays like some proposed music designed to remind one of the craters and the mountains of the moon. A beautiful and terrifying sense of the alien, of the unknown. The music is as much a part of the soundtrack as the animals and dialogue. Indeed, at one point, it plays duet to Tyler's oboe.

Rather than having a heroic and dashing explorer (who must not only find himself in the wilderness, but also lose the old version of himself), Tyler is a quiet man who has no current self-awareness to lose. In the end, this makes Charles Martin Smith essential to the role. It is Tyler's personality, his confusion, his social status, and his emotional state that can only be played quietly. As a character, Tyler has no grand statements to make, only visions and revelations of truth. Internal and otherwise. Smith plays him perfectly. Not long after the introductory scenes, Tyler finds a pilot who can take him to where he needs to be. Rosie (played by Brian Dennehy) doesn't seem exactly stable, but it's likely his only option. Dennehy plays the role with his usual crazy-eyed gruffness, yet without some of his usual sideways winks at the audience. The other two main roles in the film - Inuit natives played by Samson Jorah and Zachary Ittimangnaq - are even more understated personalities than Tyler. The depth of their specific acting talents (if acting is took to mean acting unnaturally) could be up for interpretation. But, instead of giving them actions and dialogue beyond their range of experience, they simply live their respective characters' lives for the screen. Ootek and Mike don't have wide character arcs like Tyler does. They are already in their natural environment, and no longer experience the initial resistance and friction that Tyler is becoming familiar with. Ootek goes off into the wilderness to live in the silence, but Tyler is only just learning to silence his thoughts.

And it is in those thoughts that we are given a window into Tyler's development. Any change in perception or understanding that might seem either too personal or too inconsequential to share in a conversation, we are given privy to through Charles Martin Smith's narration. Farley Mowat's writing is the core of Never Cry Wolf. He writes from a humorous standpoint, as concerned with the great fears and mysteries of life as he is with those things that mildly amuse him. Each sequence is given the full weight of feeling and realism, because they all hold equal - yet utterly different - strengths and beauties. The weight of this reality comes into a nude scene which occurs later in the film. It does a rare thing in cinema - to explore the beauty of humanity in nature. Pure and unrestrained.

Hiro Narita does amazing work as the cinematog

Fmovies: You know you're in trouble when the only thing you can pick up on the shortwave is Russian folk music.

Disney at its best. Top-notch cinematography, wonderful sarcastic humor, over-the-top Dennehey acting, beautiful wilderness, man-spoils-what-he-touches, and another ambient score to die for from Mark Isham.

Fricassee of mouse. A surplus of toilet paper and light bulbs. Special magic from the scenes with Ootek right up to the very end. Running naked with the caribou. Outdoor adventure ne plus ultra for the gentle man. But hold onto your shotgun, the entrepreneurs are coming. They'll take you apart, "just for the evil fun of it".

NEVER CRY WOLF is a motion picture that is nothing short of miraculous. Film maker Carroll Ballard succeeded in creating a magnificent motion picture filled with overwhelmingly beautiful and evocative imagery that stirs the soul and fills the heart with wonderment. In addition the film is augmented by a brilliant and haunting musical score.

It is rare for a film to touch me as profoundly as this one did. I'd like to see an indelible print of NEVER CRY WOLF be placed within a time capsule so that the generations of the next Millenium could experience it.

Never Cry Wolf fmovies. I saw this film in my Biology class since we were learning about organisms and how they interact with their environment. I'd have to say that this was a good movie and pretty enjoyable. Charles Martin Smith had a good performance and the script made him have good dialogue, along with him narrating almost most of the film too. I liked how the main character inhabited in all the places he encountered to and how he became friends with the Inuit. I thought those scenes were included nicely in the film. Overall, a good adventure that was interesting throughout the movie. I recommend it.

Hedeen's Outlook: 8/10 *** B

The researcher Tyler (Charles Martin Smith) is assigned by his government to travel to the Arctic to study the wolves that they believe are responsible for the reduction of the caribou population. The reckless pilot Rosie (Brian Dennehy) takes him to the wilderness and he is left alone with his supply in an extremely cold spot. He is saved by the local Ootek (Zachary Ittimangnaq) that is traveling with his dog sledding. He builds a shelter for Tyler and organizes his supplies. Tyler finds two wolves that he calls George and Angeline and their three offspring and he examines his excrement to learn what they eat. Soon he discovers that the wolves eat only mice and Tyler decides to do the same to prove to the government that the wolves do not eat caribous. Ootek returns with his friend Mike (Samson Jorah) that speaks English and translates what Ootek say. The trio stays together and Tyler learns that Mike is a hunter. Mike travels with Ootek by canoe to see a herd of caribou that is attacked by a pack of wolves. Tyler examines the bones and finds that the animal was diseased, proving that the wolves are responsible for keeping the caribou strong as told by Ootek. Tyler finds Rosie with two hunters planning to explore the area with tourism and Tyler has an argument with the pilot and returns to the camp. He finds the three offspring but the wolves are missing. Tyler initially suspects of Rosie but when he sees the nervous Mike, he finds that he killed the animals.

"Never Cry Wolf" is a wonderful film with magnificent cinematography and beautiful story based on the biography of the Canadian Farley Mowat. Presently the film gives the sensation of a National Geographic movie but it was very impressive and unique in 1983 when it was released. Maybe this is the best role of Charles Martin Smith, performing a scientist living in the wilderness alone for a long period and understanding the behavior of wolves. Last but not the least, the ecologic concern of this film is ahead of time. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Os Lobos Nunca Choram" ("The Wolves Never Cry")

This movie premiered at an age in my life when I was fascinated with wolves and their impact on nature - at 10 years old, I met a researcher while on a trip with my parents who actually lived with wolves for 9 months out of the year. On his recommendation I read Farley Mowat's "Never Cry Wolf" and finagled my theater-phobic parents into taking me to see the film shortly thereafter.

Its impact on me, partially because of my love for the subject matter, has been lifelong.

Although the film does not always capture the humor of Mowat's narrative, it does a brilliant job of portraying, with patience that may grate on the nerves of blockbuster-seasoned moviegoers, the experience of its protagonist. Complaints that the film does not focus enough on the wolves are understandable, but the book and the movie are about one man's journey to understanding the wolf's place in a natural ecosystem. He must learn to be like them, understand their behavior (which mirrors humans' in so many ways), and ultimately choose a loyalty to one or the other species.

It is advisable that the viewer adopt expectations similar to those for a National Geographic documentary, although the story is only loosely based in fact. Sometimes things happen slowly in the arctic. Sometimes they don't happen at all, or the things that happen are not what you'd want out of the "plot". Cinematography and the environment are stunning. Charles Martin Smith's Tyler is a regular guy, without spectacular heroics (but brave enough to tackle activities "Fear Factor" contestants won't touch for a pile of money).

Because it was filmed entirely on location and without pretense of special effects, its visuals stand up very well in comparison to the films of today. Its pace is the sticking point that will make it unpalatable to some viewers, but I give it a rarely-awarded 9 rating for its beauty, social conscience and thorough enjoyability, taking away 1 point only for its somewhat heavy-handed finale that is less palatable than Mowat's original message.