Alpha

When I still worked at the local movie theatre, we got in posters for some flick called Alpha.  They didn’t bear any release dates, but some quick internet research told us ‘towuld be a late summer affair.  Then it didn’t come out.  We got in new posters, this time telling us that the film would be coming out in March.  Same deal: March came and went, and the film was nowhere to be seen, ’cause the studio had pushed the release back yet again to September.  And then I guess they figured September was too long to wait, so they pushed it up to August.  Lemme just see the damn thing, already!

Funnily enough, despite the multiple poster runs, we had no idea what the film was about, just that a wolf and a guy are featured among either dark, ember-y backdrops or harsh orange and teal contrasts.  At first, it was thought to be a werewolf flick; then we found out it had something to do with wolves and cavemen or something.

Gotta tell ya, Sony, ya didn’t do the greatest job of handling this thing…

In reality, Alpha tosses us back to around 20,000 years ago on the Eurasian steppe.  We follow Keda, a young newly-minted hunter setting off to take on the herds of steppe bison with his father and the rest of the hunters.  Things go sideways, though, when Keda gets violently separated from his party.  He’s set upon by a pack of wolves, but manages to injure the alpha, allowing him to escape death by chomping.  It’s been established that Keda’s no dyed-in-the-wool hunter, per se, as he’s got compassion for the furry critters; as such, he takes pity on the wolf he injured and nurses it back to health.  The two gradually form an alliance/friendship as they brave the coming winter to return Keda to his clan.  The story is set up as a sort of dramatization of the birth of the domesticated dog and its fierce loyalty to man.

As precivilizational history is not my forte, I can’t speak to the authenticity of the human activities portrayed in the film, but I’ve heard some grumblings that plenty of distorting liberties have been taken by the filmmakers.  There’s also been conflicting messages as to whether or not the language the people speak in the film is invented or an authentic representation of prehistorical speech, so I can’t call fair or foul at the moment.  If nothing else, I learned that bison did indeed live in Eurasia, as did packs of early hyena species (I had thought that they were relegated to North America and Africa, respectively), so there’s that.

I can say, though, that this ain’t some retread of the absolute trash-fire that was Roland Emmerich’s 10,000 BC, which couldn’t keep basic geography straight, much less historical or technological facts.  Indeed, though Alpha‘s story is fairly simple, the filmmakers don’t really talk down to the audience, thinking highly enough of them to put all of the dialogue in a foreign language with subtitles and do as much with visuals as possible.

And it’s the visuals that really sell the film.  Don’t get me wrong, Kodi Smit-McPhee does well enough as Keda, and his fellow human co-stars do just fine with their roles as well, but quite a bit is communicated to the audience just with the majestic scenery of Alberta and Iceland, all shot with the power of an IMAX 3D camera (the same rig that’s helped Chris Nolan immerse us in Gotham City and James Cameron to bring Pandora to life).  Martin Gschlacht’s photography is stunning here, punctuated by the occasional super-slo-mo shot that emphasizes a dramatic action and/or the contrast between Earth and sky.  Admittedly, a few shots look highly green-screened, as though the action was out of 300 or something, but I think this is just an artifact of filming on a 3D camera for the purpose of showing the scene in 3D, only to have me see it in 2D (as I will always do, 3D is frivolous nonsense that adds nothing to the screen experience save a headache and the loss of more money on the part of the movie-goers).  These few and far between scenes are balanced by tear-cajolingly beautiful sweeps of landscapes and star-teeming sky vistas.  (Note to “Ancient Alien proponents: These are the skies our ancestors looked upon regularly.  Ya think they didn’t find it just as mesmerizing and inspiring as we do!?)

And then there’s Chuck.  Chuck is the name of the Czechoslovakian wolfhound who plays the eponymous wolf, and he completely looks the part of a wild European lupine.  He’s extremely well-trained, and he’s able to act so well that we never expect the twist we’re thrown at the end.  Not to mention, he’s a very handsome little borker, and, thanks to some Google image searching, I’ve decided to make it my life’s goal to acquire an interbred mutt whose parentage comprises Chuck and a corgi.  A little potato wolfhound.  Fantastic.

Anyway, getting back on track, Alpha has the same sorts of issues any film about prehistoric people is bound to run into, but its majestic visuals, simple-yet-effective story, and the inherent charisma of little Chuck help make the film entertaining and even a little endearing.  It’s no masterpiece, but it’s more than solid and well worth your time.  Now to go looking for more wolfhound-corgi pics…