User Reviews

All in all a good film and better for the fact that had the film not been made the story might remain hidden to the masses. Brosnan does a good job as the native American with a hidden past and the photography is stunning. To some, this may be too whimsical, to others boring - for me it is a gentle, well-told tale and perfect for family viewing. Now that's not something you get a lot of recently.

We viewed the vcr and found it to be fascinating. Not knowing anything about this true story, I thought: "Oh, no, P.Brosnan as an American Indian ('red' Indian in the film), what a bad choice" until I discovered the truth about Grey Owl. The film does a good job of demonstrating the dignity of these native peoples and undermining the racist myths about them. And Annie Galipeau, WOW, what a beauty, and very convincing as an Indian woman (I believe she is French-Canadian; she sure reverts to the all-too familiar speech of such). In spite, of Brosnan's detached, grunting style, in the end he comes through convincingly as a passionate, dedicated man. The plot is a little weak in demostrating his conversion from trapper to animal coservationist. Good film, highly recommended.

To the Native People, this movie is about what some call a "would-a-be" or "White Indian"; although the Ojibway people, whom Gray Owl's life turns o not use the word "Indian" but "Anishnabe" which means a good person. Gray Owl as an white and wanting to live the native way, is called a "White Indian".

This movie shows him living on and around Bear Island, in Northern Ontario. Gray Owl, shows us his view of their life through his eyes and explain how the northern Canadian native; has been changed by civilization. (trapping,hunting and tourism as in the scene where the "War dance" is performed after a hat-passing collection) It is also an interesting documentary of how the Canadian beaver became a part of the 5 cent coin; as the story advances into how Gray Owl worked to conserve and even reinstate this animal which was endangered from over trapping.

The story is beautiful told to us who know and live the savage life of the Northern wilderness and how beautiful it is to return to the basic of nature and leave problems of civilization behind.

The scene of most important, to me, also a white Indian, is when Gray Owl meets the Americian Chiefs and they all laugh at the blue-eyed would-a-be Indian. But the quote of the chief was how it did not matter the color of one skin but the color of one's heart.

Everyone should have a dream, but if a Gray Owl we can live this dream it is beautiful.. Another similar and great movie of this type is "The return of a Man called Horse" with Richard Harris.

A lot can be learned from this movie.. even now after I have visited the area and met the people, I still see great lessons. (for example, Gray Owls friend is an Cree and shown this native group,living with the Ojibway on Bear Island.

Interesting off-side of this film is a recent development of an Australian who just finished a summer on Bear Island after wanting to learn about the source of this film. "Broken Arrow - A white Indian"

Richard Attenborough who already given us magnific films as "A Chorus Line" and "Gandhi", once more surprise us making a beautiful hymn to the Nature. Indeed, the vast and (in that time) unexplored territory of Canada helps to compose the stunning beauty of the landscapes picked up by the motion picture camera. If the movie is really based on a true story, once more becomes evidente that "men of vision" are, in truth, men that lives beyond their time, with a historical perspective that only the Time will give them reason. The cinematography is magnificient, such as the cast lead by Pierce Brosnan, whose performance is due to Attenborough's master hands. A pleasing surprise is the appearance of Annie Galipeau in the role of Archie's beloved. Movie that must appears in a list of those who really loves the Nature...

The movie is more about Pony than Grey Owl. It's also about aboriginals, Canada, the English, Grey Owl's aunts and the North Bay Nugget. Excellent story.

This is an excellent movie, more like a book, that raises interesting questions about cultural identity and values. The key scene is Grey Owl admitting his imposture to Pony and her reaction.

A few observations on the user ratings. Note that the user ratings are bi-polar clustering at 5 and 7; it's not for everyone, but has a strong following. This movie is underrated and overlooked but will be noticed for years to come. Also, few women have watched the movie but they rate it more highly than men. Has it been marketed properly?

I saw this movie on the Hallmark Channel and thought it was wonderful, especially since it was based on a true man. Pierce Brosnan was very good as the loner English man who took on the persona of the half breed Grey Owl. The photography was beautiful.

This movie made me do more research into this character Archie Belaney known simple as Grey Owl. I want to read as much as I can about him. At the time I did not know Richard Attenborough had directed it. But I am not surprised. I like all his movies whether he is acting or directing. I gave it the highest rating. However, I would have liked to have seen more in the movie about WHY he took on this persona as it only showed the two aunts who raised him and his room in their house.

You can't go wrong with this movie if you are like me and enjoy a beautiful story without hearing foul language and contrived special effects every few minutes.

A number of Richard Attenborough's films as director have been biographies of major historical figures- "Young Winston", "Gandhi", "Chaplin". "Grey Owl" is also a filmed biography of a historical individual, but in this case Attenborough's subject is a much more obscure character.

Grey Owl was a Canadian writer of the 1920s and 1930s who promoted the ideas of environmentalism and nature conservation at a time when these causes were less fashionable than they are today. He was widely believed to be an American Indian; the story he told about himself was that he had been born in Mexico to a Scottish father and Apache mother and had emigrated to Canada where he had been adopted as a member of the Ojibway tribe. He lived in a cabin by a lake in a remote part of the Canadian wilderness, where he earned a living as a trapper. He toured Britain twice, in 1935 and 1937, to promote his books and to give lectures on conservationism, and achieved great success, even being introduced to the Royal Family. (During one of these tours Attenborough, then a teenager, saw Grey Owl at the London Palladium theatre). After his death in 1938, however, it was revealed that he had not been who he claimed to be; his real name was Archibald Belaney, and he had been born in the English seaside town of Hastings.

The film departs somewhat from the facts of Grey Owl's life. In a scene set in 1934 he states that he is 41 years old; in reality, he was born in 1888 so would have been 46 in that year. (46 would have been Pierce Brosnan's age when the film was made, so I am not sure why this change was made). Numerous events are compressed into the last four years of Grey Owl's life (1934-1938). In the film it is during this period that he meets and marries Gertrude Bernard whom he called Anahareo; in reality, he met and married Gertrude as early as 1925. The film also omits the fact that they were divorced in 1936 and that Grey Owl remarried shortly before his death.

The revelation of Grey Owl's true identity adversely affected his posthumous reputation, and he was dismissed as a "fraud". His supposed deceit was even used to discredit the causes which he had championed. Richard Attenborough, however, takes a more sympathetic view of his achievements. One of the themes explored by the film is the question of ethnic identity. Although the erstwhile Archibald Belaney was not a Canadian Indian by birth, there is no doubt that he had a deep knowledge of Ojibway culture and lore and that he spoke their language fluently. He was accepted by the Ojibway as a member of their tribe. It therefore seems unfair to describe his claim to a Native North American identity as being a fraudulent one, merely because it was an identity he had chosen rather than one he had been born into.

According to the film, Grey Owl's wife Gertrude was herself of Indian descent, but came from a family which had been assimilated into white Canadian culture. Her marriage can therefore be seen as her reclamation of her family's original cultural heritage. She was clearly influenced by her husband, but she also had an influence on him, persuading him to give up his work as a fur trapper as she had moral objections to killing animals for their fur.

One criticism made of the film is that Pierce Brosnan is "miscast" as the hero, a criticism which seems to be rooted in the preconception that Brosnan can only play action heroes in the James Bond mould. It seems to me, however, that Brosnan may deliberately have taken this role in order to avoid being typecast, the taciturn backwoodsman Grey Owl being about as far from the suave, sophisticated agent Bond as one can get. The original Bond, Sean Connery, also seems to have deliberately opted for contrasting roles when he appeared in films like "The Hill" or "The Molly Maguires". Brosnan is in fact very good in this role, although I would agree with those who found Annie Galipeau weak as Gertrude.

Another frequently-voiced criticism with which I would not agree is that the film is "boring". Certainly, it is not an action film like the Bonds, nor is it a great epic biopic like "Gandhi", and it may indeed seem boring to those who were expecting it to be either the one or the other. It is however, likely to please anyone with an interest in the early days of the conservationist movement or the philosophical implications of national and ethnic identity. The scenes of the Canadian forests are also beautifully photographed. Richard Attenborough has done us a service by helping to revive interest in this half-forgotten but fascinating figure. 7/10

James Bond in the wilderness? Well, that's the way it looks: Pierce Brosnan is after all best known as Bond in "Tommorrow Never Dies" (1997) and "Golden Eye" (1995) - both shot prior to this release. Frankly, the film's two leads are both badly miscast, with Brosnan turning in the marginally more convincing performance, and with Annie Galipeau (as Pony, Grey Owl's love interest) having to battle with carelessly-written dialogue.

The two aunts, on the other hand are perfect. But the film is not about aunts. It is about the wilds of the Canadian wilderness. And while the photography may be pretty, there is no grit to the harsh reality of living in the wilds. Annie Galipeau, as Pony, just fails to be convincing, unfortunately, because I really wanted to believe in her. She was a relatively inexperienced twenty-year-old on this film, and it could have worked, but Richard Attenborough was maybe just not tough enough on her. He makes her look vulnerable, which of course she is.. but in the wrong sort of way.

But one thing for sure, she appears picture-perfect throughout. But mascara and eyebrow thickener in the wilderness? It just doesn't fit, especially as she only ever seems to walk forest trials with Bond (sorry, Grey Owl), and use photo-ops for kissing close-ups.

I've lived with forest people in the Pacific North West, and they simply don't look this pretty and stay so sweet while fighting for survival. Which brings me to another point: the film fails to evoke the period in which it is set: the 1930s. I put the blame here largely on a lack-lustre script that is keen on preaching at the expense of dramatic arc, plot points and those small details that can evoke period through action.

William Nicholson wrote the screenplay, and his latest offering, "Elizabeth, the Golden Age" opened three days ago, so I do hope there is an improvement.

Yes, I've read the comments others have posted, but I'm not convinced. A lot of potential, but mishandled and even maybe ill-conceived. If it had had a religious film, it would have been panned, but because it preaches environmentalism, the film remains somewhat above criticism, since it is "politically correct." Sorry, for all that, I don't buy it. Amen.

I know some people think the movie is boring but I disagree. It is a biography of a very complex and extraordinary person. I liked the characters in the film and think that leaving parts of Archie's life a mystery captured his humanity. I don't think the purpose of a good biography should be the detailing of someone's life but rather the complexities and relationships that make them interesting. And what is more fascinating than someone so successfully reinventing themselves? "Men become what they dream - you have dreamed well." Good job to Lord Attenborough. I also wanted to mention that Nathaniel Arcand really stood out to me as a charismatic actor and I hope to see him in more films.

We really enjoyed Grey Owl: a simple tale well told in classic Attenborough fashion: a little over-romanticized, with archetypes, humor, and a stress of dignity and values.

Beautifully shot and told at a nice pace this is the true story of Archie, an Englishman who turned native Indian, and went to live and trap in Canada.

Solid performances from all makes this film with a message easy viewing.

Two of the stars of the film are without a doubt the cutest we have ever seen - and the message is a good one with its ecoleanings. It must have been great to meet or read Grey Owl in the 1930s, a unique character and this is a fitting film tribute.

The acting isn't bad and the scenery is gorgeous, but you'd better take a nap before starting or it might put you to sleep. Probably the best parts of the film are the scenes with the beavers. Cute little buggers that make noises like human babies. Also worthwhile if you have the DVD are two short black and white films made in 1932 and 1934 featuring the real Grey Owl.

I saw the British premiere of this in Bridgend, South Wales - Richard Attenborough was met with generous applause, his film with polite applause. It is a film equally of the heart and of the head, with emotions and affecting performances never quite being allowed to get in the way of the beautiful photography.

Charming in its own way and with a fascinating tale to tell, Grey Owl never quite gets fired up in the same way as historical rivals like Braveheart and Titanic. And this, possibly shamefully, probably just ironically, would seem to be due to the very thing that Attenborough is keen to sell his own movie on - its lack of violence, action, sex and, above all, excitement.

Still, a graceful and involving film - one which deserves the tag 'worthy' more than many others.

Released in 1999 and directed by Richard Attenborough, "Grey Owl" stars Pierce Brosnan as the real-life Archibald Belaney, known as Grey Owl. Claiming partial aboriginal American ancestry, Grey Owl lived as a fur trapper in Temagami, Ontario. Upon meeting the winsome civilized Mohawk, Gertrude Bernard, aka "Pony" (Annie Galipeau), he delved more seriously into writing and became a renowned conservationist in the early 1930s.

"Grey Owl" is the farthest thing from a conventional Western and could more aptly be described as a Wilderness Drama/Romance. People keep claiming that Belaney lived in Northern Ontario when Temagami Island and Bear Island are decidedly in Southern Ontario, about 200 miles north of Toronto. Simply being North of Toronto doesn't make it "Northern Ontario." As far as Brosnan goes, he is actually very fitting for the eponymous role because (1.) Belaney had a similar build/look and (2.) Belaney was at best half-British (the ending clears this up).

Someone claimed that the truth about Belaney wasn't discovered until after his death from pneumonia in 1938, his body weakened by habitual alcoholism. No, stories about his dubious identity had been circulating for years and, as shown in the movie, the North Bay Nugget held on to the revelatory story for three years before his death out of respect for the man's conservationist work, which the newspaper promptly printed after his decease.

In any case, to enjoy this film you have to be in the mode for a low-key drama "Western" with lots of romance. If not, you'll likely be bored to death. I found the first half rather dull, but the movie made up for it by Brosnan's stalwart depiction, Galipeau's unique beauty, the magnificent eastern Canada cinematography and the cute baby beavers. The second half, however, becomes more compelling, as the truth about Belaney is slowly revealed. Unfortunately, the movie fails to include two important points about Grey Owl: (1.) Belaney's known alcoholism and (2.) the fact that his wonderful relationship with Gertrude (as illustrated in the move, that is) ended roughly two years before his death.

The film runs 118 minutes and was shot in Quebec (Chelsea & Wakefield) & Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan, as well as Hastings, East Sussex, England. The script was written by William Nicholson.

GRADE: B or B- (6.5/10)

We have come to judge a movie (any movie, most movies) as they compare to counterparts (notwithstanding Einstein and relativity).. in that vein, relative to other movies I have seen in the last little while, Grey Owl does transport you (albeit in fleeting moments) to the original greatness that embodied this man. And that's all you should expect to experience if you go see this movie. Pierce Brosnan doesn't cut it as an Indian obviously and most of the movie plays like a cliche (with Annie Galipeau contributing in very large measures). But in the midst of all the stilted moments, Sir Attenborough's directorial prowess is very much evident. More a documentary than a movie and certainly no "Gandhi".

Pierce Brosnan will probably be the only thing familiar in Richard Attenborough's new biopic. The rest is new to international audiences: Canadian history and First Nations Culture.

"Grey Owl" is a light examination of how an man came to be adopted into the Ojibway of Northern Ontario, learning and preaching environmentalism decades before it became politically correct to do so. The film contains a love story, a moral message, and a man tortured by his past. That torture, though, is not always brought to life with the dramatic impact that it might.

Nevertheless, it is a film which holds its audience without any violence. It pays deep respect to Canada's First Nations, and presents them in a dignified and non-stereotypical manner. Brosnan's performance is somewhat stiff, but I suspect that's just how Lord Attenborough wanted him.

Thanks from a proud Canadian.

While flipping through the channels on a late Saturday night, my friends and I stumbled across this film. First of all, Irish actor Pierce Brosnan as a Native American? Seriously?! His accent was breaking through so much, although his character was apparently Scottish. Next, I was stunned to find that this film was made after he had already played James Bond/Agent 007 at least twice. This movie plays up the stereotypes, with the inspiring professor figure. The girl who played Pony should be paid to keep her mouth shut. And, this film won an award? I cannot believe it. Brosnan is an attractive man, but we seriously wanted to gauge our eyes out after watching this for just 10 seconds. We switched from "Kicking and Screaming" to this, and we wanted to switch back. We watched the 1995 children's classic "The Indian in the Cupboard" earlier in the night, which also discussed the Iroquois. The following line represents our desire to run away: "Take me outside, earth grasper." From "Grey Owl": "If you don't like it, you don't have to watch."

The movie is wonderful. It shows the man's work for the wilderness and a natural understanding of the harmony of nature, without being an "extreme" naturalist. I definitely plan to look for the book. This is a rare treasure!

GREY OWL (2+ outta 5 stars)

Interesting but much-too-earnest movie about a white man (Pierce Brosnan), obsessed since childhood with Indian culture, who convinced the world that he was an actual half-breed Indian... lecturing and touring the world. Entranced by his writings and the pride he takes in his "heritage", a young Indian falls in love with him and joins him in his wilderness home... but even she does not know the truth. Eventually, the guilt overwhelms him and he finds he can no longer preach about conservation while living his life as a fraud. I kinda liked the movie... Pierce's performance was alright... but Annie Galipeau steals the movie as his full native love interest. I think the only problem with the movie is that it takes itself a little too seriously... treating the character of Grey Owl as more of a saintly crusader than the "crazy white man" he probably was in reality.

It's a good movie if you plan to watch lots of landscapes and animals, like an animal documentary. And making Pierce Brosnan an indian make you wonder 'Does all those people don't recognize if someone isn't indian at plain sight?'