It starts with a dolly into Wilde’s ear and then a cut to Gampu’s nose “as if he sniffs the air, scenting whites.” The shots weren’t previously available via Cinemascope but became possible thanks to Panavision’s anamorphic advances.ġ0. Wilde uses the widescreen to great effect throughout and often avoids closeups during early dialogue in favor of a simple master, but he makes a stylized choice at 10:01 to offer extreme closeups of both his own character (credited only as “the man”) and Gampu’s. “Wilde the filmmaker aimed not to harm any of the animals he encountered during production.”ĩ. The film features footage from real elephant hunts, but Wilde’s contempt for the “sport” is clear in his editing as one giant creature’s demise is zoomed in on and repeated with gunfire. He went on to appear in movies like The Wild Geese (1978), Zulu Dawn (1979), and The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980).Ĩ. The leader of the tribe that crosses paths with the white-led safari is played by Ken Gampu who became the first black South African film star. This film along with Beach Red and No Blade of Grass (1970) form a loose trilogy “about survival in hostile and violent lands.”ħ. Writers Clint Johnston and Don Peters were nominated for an Academy Award for their script, and they worked again with Wilde on his follow-up film Beach Red (1967).Ħ. The “score” is an nontraditional one consisting of local music played by local musicians as well as compositions by Andrew Tracey.ĥ. The paintings accompanying the opening credits were done by a local artist named Andrew Motjuoadi.Ĥ. The film was shot in South Africa at the height of that nation’s apartheid and our own Civil Rights movement.ģ. The film is mostly free of dialogue as evident in the realization that the dialogue continuity script was only nine pages long.Ģ. Keep reading to see what I heard on the commentary track for…Ĭommentator: Stephen Prince (film historian)ġ. Thankfully, the folks behind The Criterion Collection agree, and they’ve just released the film to Blu-ray with an HD restoration and a handful of extras. There are numerous movies out there about individuals surviving against the incredible odds of nature’s horrors, and one that’s deserving of more love is Cornel Wilde‘s still-thrilling 1965 film The Naked Prey.
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