User Reviews

This movie follows the life-story of an otter. There is no animation, a minimum of human characters, hardly any dialogue and no silly anthropomorphizing of animals or any embarrassing animal stunts. The film is based around the impeccable footage of animals interacting with one another and their environment, and the rich narration by Peter Ustinov of a genuinely meaningful tale of an animal.

Another reviewer has mentioned that this film should not be shown to children as certain sad/cruel aspects of the story would be upsetting for them. I can't disagree more. This video-tape was watched and re-watched by my siblings and I through our early childhood and we loved it. There are moments of joy and hilarity mixed with poignant and tragic occurrences, BUT nothing that a child can't handle. Certainly nothing worse then Bambi's mother getting shot, Simba's Dad being killed in a stampede or Nemo's mother and siblings being eaten by another carnivorous fish! This movie is a classic, and certainly a genuine feat of film-making. One of the best uses of Peter Ustinov's glorious wit and rumbling voice I have ever seen on film.

This British animal film details the life of an otter called Tarka and his daily obstacles to survive. His main dangers come from human beings perhaps unsurprisingly, in the form of poachers and, mostly, huntsmen and their pack of hounds.

The influence of the previous year's Watership Down (1978) seems quite pronounced here, with its story focusing on the trials of animals from the British countryside and the grim reality of the horrors they encounter. Both movies share a peculiar unsentimental approach to their material, and both are hard hitting for family movies. The biggest single difference of course is that Tarka is based squarely on reality, with no talking animals or animation. As such, it utilises a lot of nature style photography, which are edited together into a narrative, the result is something of a hybrid of fiction and documentary. The nice narration from Peter Ustinov helps expand upon the story elements but this is a film which almost exclusively gets by without dialogue. The English countryside provides a lovely backdrop and is very well photographed here. There is an unmistakeable anti-hunting message, which remains absolutely pertinent to this day. The idea that grown adults get their kicks out of terrorizing a little wild animal minding its business in the countryside, is perplexing indeed. But even without the message, this remains a great little movie, with the real star being the gorgeous little otter itself. This is definitely a film which remains compelling and is one which should continue to be passed down to future generations of children.

The first thing that stood out about this film was the wonderful photography that provided a vivid and beautiful portrayal of life in the English countryside, with bubbling brooks, the passing of the very distinctive seasons and the flashes of colour and life from birds, insects and animals. While the people spoiled it, both for their presence and their behaviour, the film was a realistic portrayal of life in the countryside and I do not understand people wanting to shield children from that. A lot of modern problems stem precisely from our distancing ourselves from nature and an understanding of its workings. That is the REAL world and ours is an artificial creation superimposed upon it - ostensibly in an effort to rise above its harsh and savage aspects, but all too often failing to meet the lofty ideals. I saw Bambi in a crowded cinema, when I was 3 or 4, and when that fatal shot rang out my little voice piped up "Mummy, did the hunters just kill Bambi's mother?" My mother responded truthfully... "Bwah!!!" But the film moved on and so did I. In retrospect I think my reaction broke the tension of an audience that was all wanting to bawl their eyes out and they were duly grateful. Kids should learn that nature can be savage at an age when they can assimilate the fact. Bringing one's children up to believe that the universe will conform to their desires may easily lead to disillusionment or the feeling they weren't 'wanting' hard enough. Much better to teach them that the world operates on the principle of cause and effect and that we must assume responsibility for all our contributions (positive or negative) to that process! At the end of the film, I thought it was saying Tarka escaped down to the sea, the 3 bubbles showing his path. But I see other viewers assumed he had stopped breathing and was dead. It's a nice ambiguous ending where I suppose one can read what one wants into it. But as in "Ring of Bright Water", there's always the next generation to carry on the genes. At one point I consoled myself by thinking "Well it's not as savage as bullfighting", but is that even true? It is certainly not to our credit that humans consider it sport to hunt, torture and tear animals apart, using overwhelming odds to virtually ensure a kill. Sport with animals is what the Cretans did, performing acrobatics over and around a ferocious bull to demonstrate their courage and skill without harming the animal at all.

This film is a classic, beautifully made and yes its upsetting. I sat with my 4 year old little girl and explained it to her, and she was in wonderment at it and although a little upset - she enjoyed it. She learnt more from this film than she will ever do if even if she watched 100 Disney fantasies. I'm fed up with parents wanting to shield their children from every tiny little thing that might cause them upset. As a child I baled by eyes out at the cruelty to black beauty it didn't do me any harm - it taught be humanity and compassion!!!!!!These days children's films fail to challenge children - its all fantasy - I think this is more worrying.

My name is Peter Talbot. I hand raised the otter 'Spade' guided by Philip and Jeanne Wayre. I worked and lived the story with all the animals on screen as the principal animal handler for the two years of production.

The Book 'Tarka the Otter' is a modern classic and has much to do with The suffering of The First World War. Otters hiding from huntsmen underground is quite analogous with soldiers in the trenches.

Henry Williamson (the author)was one of the world's greatest nature writers. He chose the locations with David Cobham and allowed the film to be made, having turned down Disney, only on the understanding that it would be, authentic, educational and not sentimentalized - there is very much more to the story than is immediately apparent.

In the intervening years I have written and posted much about my time with Spade (Tarka) and all the animals in the film. The whole story is now an ebook called 'Ripple of Ancient Sunlight' and can be found on most on-line e-book retailers. If you wish to contact me please drop into the 'Tarka and me' Facebook. page or Twitter, Peter Talbot - Tarka_andme .

I taped this on DVD a few weeks ago and finally got around to watching it. The photography alone is stunning, and the otters are so beautiful. A sad ending was referenced, and at first I didn't know, but was watching with my mom, and when Ustinov narrated three bubbles leaving the scene, she was convinced and convinced me that it was the three otters: Tarka, his mate, and their baby moving to a new location. My almost 4-year-old granddaughter was watching, too, and LOVED it. She handled the deaths just fine, including Tarka's mother bleeding after being shot. The movie shows some death, but much more life. I like the music, the story, the scenery, everything.

Since writing this review, I have read other reviews about the movie, watched again alone, and watched it with the 3-year-old referenced above, as well as her 7-year-old sister. No doubt, Tarka died in the end, and the 7-year-old was very sympathetic with Tarka's difficulties throughout the movie. It didn't bother her when Tarka and the otters ate the eels or fish or went after chickens, her loyalty was with the otters and she kept saying she couldn't keep watching. Each time, though, she did keep watching and enjoyed the movie, and perhaps thankfully fell asleep before the last hunt. As the scenes went forward, the 3-year-old remembered the entire movie from scene to scene and was as enthralled the second time around as much as the first. But with the sensitive child, it offered what I perceive as an opportunity to see that nature is, among other things, cruel.

Tarka encounters marvelous and varied experiences in his full, albeit difficult, life. This little otter stepped out of the normal path because of being alone. It enabled him to be a worthy opponent for the trained dogs and even to take out one of the enemy in the end. This movie represents a triumph over adversity. Tarka finally succumbed, but what a valiant little creature from a fierce breed. Butterflies can be fierce, hummingbirds are fierce, dolphins live passionately and fiercely. It seems to me that this is an aspect of nature to embrace and celebrate, maybe to emulate, not to run from and condemn. Because he was so resourceful and good at surviving, he was able to leave cubs behind. His difficulties weren't limited to being hunted by dogs.

A final note about varying comments about anthropomorphism in the movie. My understanding of this fallacy is to attribute human qualities and feelings to non-human creatures and things. This movie does that in abundance, but I don't have a problem with it. I tend to take an anthropomorphic view oftentimes, anyway. Looking at Tarka's life from a perspective we can relate to helps us to relate to the life experiences of the otters. So I say, yes, anthropomorphism runs rampant in the move, and that this is okay. It takes the movie out of the realm of being a cold, emotionless documentary, the narratives of which, btw, are frequently highly anthropomorphic in their presentation.

A rather odd family orientated film, it is narrated by Peter Ustinov in an awkward documentary-like fashion, with terms that may be too complex for younger viewers, although the story is a bit simple for any older viewers. There is some good scenic photography and a few clever close-ups on animals, plus the accompanying music is quite nice, but the film suffers from a lack of proper characters and dialogue, which causes me to wonder whether the film would have been better told in some form of animation with talking animals. The story could have also done with some humorous touches, but as flawed as it may well be, it still a highly unique film, and it does have a fairly good technical side.

Tarka the Otter is a perhaps dark and bleak film, but I also think it is a poignant one too. And above all in my opinion, it is wonderful. Tarka the Otter is a beautifully filmed movie, the cinematography is lovely and the scenery is gorgeous, and it is appropriately scored too with some very pretty and haunting themes. The narration is both droll and literate and the story is touching. Tarka is adorable and Peter Ustinov is absolutely brilliant in this film with his distinctive voice serving him well. Oh and the ending has me bawling, even after countless times of seeing the film. The film may be a little overlong perhaps, but it is a wonderful movie all the same and well worth catching. 9/10 Bethany Cox

What a treasure this movie is. The book is pretty good too. Sometimes the sequences between the pivotal events in Tarka's life can be little long winded, but overall the plot is interesting. It will make you cry if you are one of those tenderhearted saps. The anti-sport hunting message of the film makes it all the more meaningful. I was a vegetarian for a while until I found a copy of this on vhs and watched it. Now I supplement my diet with fish. I cook my fish though, unlike Tarka who eats 'em alive (eels too! yuk).

I have never felt the need to add a review to this website until now, but having just sat through the film I felt it necessary to warn parents who may be thinking of showing it to their children. Please don't! This is no Disney film. This film tells us 'life is cruel' and if you show it to your children, in my opinion, you are too.

The video box describes the film as a 'delight for all ages' and the IMDb plot outline describes it as a 'family film'. I just had to find a definition of 'family film' and came across the following: "Usually consisting of comedies or adventures, these films are often based on children's literature and can involve any number of helpful animals, friendly supernatural beings and fantasy worlds, all geared to stimulate and appeal to the imagination. Whatever the situation, there is little or no offensive material and generally a lesson is learned on the way." Not an apt description of Tarka The Otter, which contains some thoroughly unpleasant scenes, totally unsuitable for young children, and an ending that qualifies the film as a 'feel bad' movie. The lesson learned? As I said: life is cruel. Family entertainment? I don't think so. Unless you hate your family, that is.

Another review, more revealing than this but worth reading, can be found by following the 'external reviews' link.

I watched this as a 5-6 year old. I also loved "Animals are Beautiful People," "The Glacier Fox," "Three Warriors," "Watership Down," "Black Beauty," and "Hambone and Hillie." I find "Tarka" is similar to the new Meerkat Manor on AP. It is based on real-life behaviors and issues in daily life. Tarka and other movies in my list also dealt with animal cruelty and poaching/ hunting practices. And I agree with the person who mentioned Bambi and the Lion King's graphic content. Sure, it's animated, but I have had to explain "why did such and such happen" when I've watched "nemo" and "the lion king" with my students who knew nothing of animal life. I learned a helluva lot more about animals and respect for life watching Tarka and other wildlife films, including the Wonderful World of Disney doc's the Disney channel used to show late at night, than many adults know now. Sure, it was sad and heart-wrenching in places, but I never needed a course in anger management or counseling. My only questions to my parents were in regards to the humans and why did the people do the things they did.

But only if your family likes to spend it's time murdering otters.