The Bear *** (1988, Tchéky Karyo, Jack Wallace, André Lacombe) – Classic Movie Review 5334

Director Jean-Jacques Annaud’s 1988 adventure is the beautifully filmed, heartwarming tale of orphaned baby bear cub Douce (played by Youk the Bear), a happy little grizzly who scampers round the British Columbian mountains in the nineteenth century until his mum is killed in a landslide and he is chased by hunters.

Douce is adopted by an adult male bear, The Kodiak Bear (played by Bart the Bear), and both set out together on a journey to survive, and must avoid those hunters.

It is a warm-hearted and cuddly, green-friendly entertainment that satisfyingly mixes humour, realism and technical brilliance, with marvellous cinematography in the British Columbia landscapes by Philippe Rousselot and a fine score by Philippe Sarde. The expert screenplay by Gérard Brach is based on James Oliver Curwood’s novel The Grizzly King. It stars Tchéky Karyo, Jack Wallace and André Lacombe.

Annaud previously made Quest for Fire (1981) and went on to make Two Brothers (2004).

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5334

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