Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Movie Review: Duma

Last night I saw what was one of the best "non-animated" family films I've come across. It is called Duma. In short it is a story of a young boy (Xan) who finds an orphaned cheetah and raises it to nearly adulthood on his family farm in South Africa. Circumstances force the family to move into Johannesburg and after Duma is found roaming through Xan's school, Xan knows he has to return Duma to his home. The two make the journey hundreds of miles into the African wilderness and meet another traveler (Rip) along the way. The three fight to survive the elements (including lions) along with starvation and dehydration.

The film is directed by Carroll Ballard who also directed the Black Stallion and proves again that he has a great capacity for working with children and animals. I would definitely recommend Duma to anyone who enjoys a great story that promotes the importance of family and includes the beautiful African landscape.

If any of you have seen any films you'd like to encourage us to see or warn us about feel free to write a review. I'll archive them and post a link.

1 comment:

Dana said...

This was a fun movie- just like watching Indi but life size instead of minnie. If she was bigger she would surely eat us!