Born free - queen of the wild

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Movie
German title Born free - queen of the wild
Original title Born Free
Country of production Great Britain
original language English
Publishing year 1966
length 95 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director James Hill
script Lester Cole
production Sam Jaffe
Paul B. Radin
music John Barry
camera Kenneth Talbot
cut Don Deacon
occupation

Born Free - Queen of the wilderness is a British adventure film from the year 1966 , which appeared on the 1960 novel Born Free by Joy Adamson based.

action

The game warden George Adamson works in Kenya. He has to shoot a man-eating lion. When he is attacked by the lion's mate, he has to kill her too. George brings three lion cubs home. His wife Joy raises the lion cubs. It even makes them drink milk. Elsa, the smallest of the three lion children, is particularly attached to her foster mother.

The time will soon come when the lion cubs must be given to a zoo. But George realizes his wife's suffering and only sends the two older ones to the zoo. Elsa stays with the Adamsons and becomes part of the family. She can move around freely in the house and also has the opportunity to roam the savannah. As Elsa grows up, she becomes a cause of concern for residents in the area. The district representative suggests giving Elsa to a zoo after all.

Joy wants Elsa to stay free. She has two months to teach the animal how to live in the savannah. Elsa is tame and has never had to kill for food or defend herself. It is difficult for the Adamsons to teach the lioness the things that will ensure her survival in the wild. During her first hunting lesson, she is put to flight by a warthog.

The Adamsons manage to prepare Elsa for a life without human care. At the beginning of the rutting season, Elsa is released into the wild. A year later, after the Adamsons returned to Kenya from a stay in England, Elsa appears at camp. She has her own three boys with her. She spends the day with her human friends and then returns to her companion.

Reviews

The lexicon of international films described the film as pleasant family entertainment, appealing thanks to the funny game of the young animals and many humorous situations.

The film magazine Cinema praised the film as a beautifully photographed animal drama. The conclusion was positive: animal good and simply heartwarming.

Vincent Canby of the New York Times wrote that it was clear from the opening sequence that the bestselling book had been entrusted to honest and intelligent filmmakers.

The variety was also impressed. The film is a heartwarming story. The producers have created an implementation full of loving care and with solid emotional demands that rarely get banal.

The Protestant film observer is also full of praise . His conclusion is: "A particularly enchanting film due to the unique animal shots and its lovable 'leading actors', which can be warmly recommended to children and adults."

Awards

The film received several awards and nominations:

Academy Awards 1967
Golden Globe Award 1967
1967 Grammy Awards
1967 Laurel Award
  • Laurel Award in the Sleeper of the Year category
  • Laurel Award for the song Born Free (3rd place)
  • 5th place for Virginia McKenna for Best Actress in a Drama
Genesis Award 1990
  • Genesis Award in the category of best classic
Directors Guild of America Award 1967
  • DGA Award in the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures category : John Hill

background

The premiere took place on March 14, 1966 in London as part of a Royal Film Performance . In Germany it was released on April 22, 1966.

The shooting locations were the Meru National Park and the Shaba National Reserve in Kenya.

For John Barry it was the first ever Oscar win. He was also the first English composer to win both Oscars in the music categories. The song, which can only be heard in the US version, was sung by Matt Monro .

Joy Adamson, born in Austria in 1910 as Friederike Viktoria Gessner, moved to Kenya with her first husband out of fear of the Nazi regime (her husband was Jewish). There she divorced him. After another unsuccessful marriage, she married the gamekeeper George Adamson in 1944. The lioness Elsa they reared was the protagonist of Joy Adamson's three-part book series ( Born Free , Living Free and Forever Free ). In 1980 Joy Adamson was murdered by a Kenyan worker. Her husband George was also murdered. He died in 1989 while hunting poachers.

Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, who played the Adamson couple, were also real married. Both did without doubles during the filming and worked with the lions in front of the camera themselves. Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker James Hill did not want trained animals, but wanted the lions to be captured. Over 3,000 animals were filmed, only about a dozen were ultimately seen in the film. Hill decided not to use trick shots and had the entire production filmed behind thick barbed wire. Since the animals did not adhere to a schedule, the shooting lasted a total of 42 weeks.

In 1972 the sequel was created, Drei Trolche in der Wilderness - Free Born II with Nigel Davenport and Susan Hampshire as the Adamson couple. Geoffrey Keen was there again. The director took Jack Couffer . Diana Muldaur and Gary Collins played the couple in the 1974 British television series Born Free . 1996 staged Tommy Lee Wallace the television movie Born Free - Born Free ( Born Free - The New Adventures ) for the station ABC .

The documentary film The Lions Are Free , made by James Hill and Bill Travers in 1969, shows the rest of Elsa's life. For the film, Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna and George Adamson visited the lioness in their territory.

The animal welfare organization Born Free Foundation , founded by the main actors McKenna and Travers, was named after the film.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Born free - Queen of the Wild. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 11, 2020 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Critique of Cinema
  3. ↑ Critique of the New York Times (Eng.)
  4. ^ AD Murphy: Born Free. In: Variety . March 22, 1966, accessed January 11, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Ev. Munich Press Association, Review No. 203/1966
  6. ^ Born Free (1966) - Notes. In: Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved January 11, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Eleanor Quin: Born Free (1966) - Articles. In: Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved January 11, 2020 .