To Walk With Lions is a true story, based on the final few years in the life of the lion-lover George Adamson. Film buffs will remember that the film Born Free also dealt with the experiences of the Adamson's (George and wife Joy, in fact) earlier in their life, but where that film almost qualified as a feel-good children's film, this one is resolutely not so, tainted with tragedy and violence.
The action is perceived through the eyes of a young British drifter, Fitzjohn (John Michie) who arrives at George Adamson's African lion sanctaury after fleeing from a run-down town where he caused a fight. Fitzjohn is introduced to George Adamson (majestic Richard Harris), now a reclusive, opinionated and weathered old man in his eighties (long since separated from wife Joy) and his elephant-loving brother Terence Adamson (Ian Bannen). Before long, Fitzjohn has grown to love the lions and understand their habits almost as much as Adamson, but the Kenyan officials are determined to pull the plug on Adamson's work. Fitzjohn tries to persuade him to leave the sanctuary he has set up, and to move to a newer, freindlier environment in Tanzania, but Adamson refuses to go and is ultimately murdered for his stubbornness.
This is a moving film, helped by truly superb acting (hard to believe the Academy Awards overlooked some of these performances). The photography of the African landscapes is jaw dropping. The story sticks closely to reality, but although most viewers will know the outcome before the film even begins, the sadness of George Adamson's murder still comes across powerfully in the film's heart-breaking climax. Harris, Bannen, Michie and Kerry Fox as an Oxford graduate who becomes involved in their struggle give commanding performances. There are memorable guest appearances by Honor Blackman (as Joy Adamson) and Geraldine Chaplin (as George's old flame) too. There are no real weaknesses with this film. It's just a wonderful film, well worth two hours(ish) of anybody's time.
The action is perceived through the eyes of a young British drifter, Fitzjohn (John Michie) who arrives at George Adamson's African lion sanctaury after fleeing from a run-down town where he caused a fight. Fitzjohn is introduced to George Adamson (majestic Richard Harris), now a reclusive, opinionated and weathered old man in his eighties (long since separated from wife Joy) and his elephant-loving brother Terence Adamson (Ian Bannen). Before long, Fitzjohn has grown to love the lions and understand their habits almost as much as Adamson, but the Kenyan officials are determined to pull the plug on Adamson's work. Fitzjohn tries to persuade him to leave the sanctuary he has set up, and to move to a newer, freindlier environment in Tanzania, but Adamson refuses to go and is ultimately murdered for his stubbornness.
This is a moving film, helped by truly superb acting (hard to believe the Academy Awards overlooked some of these performances). The photography of the African landscapes is jaw dropping. The story sticks closely to reality, but although most viewers will know the outcome before the film even begins, the sadness of George Adamson's murder still comes across powerfully in the film's heart-breaking climax. Harris, Bannen, Michie and Kerry Fox as an Oxford graduate who becomes involved in their struggle give commanding performances. There are memorable guest appearances by Honor Blackman (as Joy Adamson) and Geraldine Chaplin (as George's old flame) too. There are no real weaknesses with this film. It's just a wonderful film, well worth two hours(ish) of anybody's time.