ARCTIC TALE IS 'based on a true story'—as is often mentioned at the beginning of films about people. The filmmakers assembled fifteen years of footage into a cohesive, epic tale of the magical, mysterious and often ferocious giants of the north: the polar bear and the walrus. Time and again, their film footage captured heroism and courage, tenderness and unique child-rearing techniques. Always evident was the amazing feat of living on and around an ice-covered land, edged by frigid seawater and ice floes, ravaged by mighty blizzards—and more recently, longer exposure each year to the sun and its ice-melting heat. These animals face astonishing challenges, and their solutions demonstrate how they are coping in order to survive.
If you liked March of the Penguins, about the southern ice conditions of the Antarctic, you will like this North Pole version. Morgan Freeman's eloquent narration contrasts a bit with Queen Latifah's narration for Arctic Tale, as hers adds a bit of the comical with her informative passages. Like the first, this film is a scripted epic of 'characters'; thusly the species highlighted are very narrow in scope, the whole 15-year archive of footage contributing to composites of the 'characters.'
As the story begins, we are first introduced to the frozen, glacial conditions of an arctic winter. Then the sun finally shines in a blue sky. We hear soft sounds of an animal—one that is on the inside of a hole in the snow—facing toward the light. What is out there? Out on the mountainside, a hole can be seen in the snow pack. A polar bear cub emerges from the hidden den, evoking ah's and giggles from the children in the auditorium (and more than just a few of the adults, as well). We learn the little cub is Nanu, that she has a brother, and Mom is very hungry. The two cubs venture forth out into their chilly world, tumbling, biting and growling down the snowy slope. Momma bear comes out to stretch, roll in the snow and have a sniffing-look around. They all retreat to the den, as tomorrow is another day.
We find them the next morning, venturing down and away from their den, headed for the sea—and food. The cubs variously bounce about, or run to catch up when mother bear growls a certain grumpy way. Nanu's brother does not have a name. Nor does the little tag-along Arctic Fox they pick up along the trail. Smart like a fox, it knows wherever there is an adult polar bear, there are leftovers.
Next, we meet a walrus baby, Seela, who is the other youngster of our story. She and her mother are floating near an ice raft, hugging, snuggling. The walrus herd is sunning themselves on the ice raft. Seela, a newborn, must find a way up onto the raft, before she freezes, as Mom can't lift her. Mom can push—and does. Walrus females generally have an Auntie to help with their young, as it takes about three years for the kids to get the hang of hunting and hanging out with the walrus herd. Auntie is a second set of eyes to keep track of Seela. Seela is a precious commodity in the herd, as not many young walrus are born in a given season. Aunties guard the babies in these relationships as if they were their own. Seela's Auntie is no exception; she is always close by, watching, helping.
The music score includes a riff of Sister Sledge's cheerful 'We are Family.' As it plays, the animals go about their simple lives. There is footage of the polar bears bounding along on the ice, as well as humorous close-in shots of the walrus herd, lounging about—just really up in each other's faces. All around, swim whales, dolphins, narwhals and sharks. We see a zillion breeding and immature seabirds, mostly in the nesting areas. However, Arctic Tale dwells on the polar bear family and the walrus family—one for the land, one for the sea. We learn that ring seals are a favorite buffet item for polar bears. Clams are the staple of the walrus diet. Both have the appetites of giants.
There is a lot to mention in the narration of what is happening in the Arctic. After all, this is a documentary, which charges the documentarian (National Geographic) to depict the subject 'in the moment.' They must engage the audience with the subject's world; keep an observer's distance, attempting not to taint the subject's world with editorializing. There is a bit of that however, as it is hard not to say anything except what appears to be the truth at that moment in the story: "The polar bear is slipping on the ice because it is not hard-pack-ice this year, it's slushy and won't hold the bear's weight. The bear must retreat." It is what it is.
Conditions on land and at sea are changing so rapidly that mother polar bears, no longer keep their cubs at their sides for three years, for training. In these new habitat conditions, the females must turn their cubs away in their second year. The walrus are vulnerable, as are all the species in these vast reaches up north. None seems so imminently in trouble as the polar bear. The ice itself, for that matter, is disappearing earlier each spring, arriving later each winter. Something is in the wind, and it's not snow. The animals, and their offspring, are dealing with it. Their icy world is literally melting out "…from underneath them," the filmmakers observed.
Focusing on a few species keeps this epic tale within reach of a broader audience. The viewer feels an even deeper connection, by having 'characters,' two youngsters growing to maturity. They have names, and family. The animal's loss of habitat, their futures, when added to our own great-grandchildren's future, is obviously entangled; the outcome of each seems inseparable. The struggles of these animals may ominously foretell the future, and the implied struggles of our offspring.
I recommend Arctic Tale; remember to take with you a full travel-packet of tissue.
Paramount Classics presents a National Geographic Films production in association with Visionbox Pictures, ARCTIC TALE, directed by Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson. The narration is written by Linda Woolverton and Mose Richards and Kristen Gore. The producers are Adam Leipzig and Keenan Smart. Joby Talbot composed the music, and Beth Spiegel was the editor. Tim Kelly, John Bard Manulis and Michael Rosenfeld are executive producers. Kevin McCarey is co-executive producer. Kattie Evans and Chris Miller are co-producers.
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