To Walk with Lions (1999)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is a very good documentary/movie about the last nineteen years in Kora, Kenya, of the famed, real-life lion rehabilitator, 'Baba ya Simba' ("Father of Lions" in Swahili), the British wildlife conservationist and author, George Adamson; and, told by his assistant of nineteen years, Tony Fitzjohn.The acting in this movie is marvelous! Tough-guy Richard Harris ("The Guns of Navarone," "Man in the Wilderness," and, later, "Gladiator") is spot-on as George Adamson, in looks, mannerisms, and, behavior. John Michie portrays a powerful Tony Fitzjohn. Ian Bannen ("Gandhi" and "Braveheart") also gives a great performance as George Adamson's brother, Terrence. Honor Blackman ("Goldfinger") and Geraldine Chaplin ("Doctor Zhivago") also give great performances, and, are still beautiful after their famed performances almost forty years earlier.Adamson, and, his wife, Joy, who wrote the bestselling book, "Born Free," are portrayed in that movie by Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna. George Adamson, himself, is in "Christian the Lion;" "An Elephant Called Slowly;" and, in footage, in "The Lion Cub From Herrods" - all very good. I included this as fact, but, also, if people wished to see more of the connected stories of George Adamson and his adventures in Kenya.This movie, "To Walk With Lions," is a very good depiction of what I've read in articles and online about George Adamson and his assistant, Tony Fitzjohn, and, their nineteen years spent together in Kenya.Although very good, this is a movie that children and overly-sensitive adults may be deeply saddened by, and, even appalled by. The poachers are ruthless and determined; the government is weak and ineffective; the game wardens are too few, and, some take bribes to look the other way; and, Adamson, despite his courage, determination, and, love of this land and all animals that live upon it, is old and gradually becoming invalid. Plus, his brother, Terrence, dying, likely from heartbreak after his beloved elephant-friends were butchered by poachers; his estranged wife, Joy, being murdered by a former employee; and, the turmoil engulfing his once-beautiful wildlife-world is becoming worse...have all taken a toll on George Adamson's already poor health.I, being a veterinary technician specialized in exotics and wildlife for twenty-nine years, and, seeing all sorts of terrible things, still wept in parts of this movie. However, over these many years, I've come to realize that the wild is just that, 'wild.' But...when 'man' is added to that equation, especially those who don't care nor respect the wild, 'the wild' can become chaotic and eventually destroyed. Adamson tried to prevent this, and, if not for the greed of poachers and his lack of resources and manpower, he may have done just that.A great documentary/movie of a great man and pioneer accomplishing great and seemingly impossible things, but, this movie is not for everyone.I give this a solid "TEN STARS" due to the 'very few' who stuck it out till 'their end,' and, at least 'tried' to make this wonderful idea of lion rehabilitation and natural conservation work. And...it did, until the powers-that-be became phonies and puppets but 'allowing' bad events to take place.Check it out...but, it's not for everyone.

From Frank Machin to Marcus Aurelius,Richard Harris has hidden behind various accents,mannerisms and eccentricities for so many years that it came as a bit of a shock to discover that,when the mood was on him,he could still produce an honest and revealing performance.As George Adamson the pioneer wildlife preservationist he has cut to the bare bones and given us a wilful,stubborn shambling wreck of a man who refuses to accept that he has grown old - a thirty year old in an 80 year old's body. Grumbling,misanthropic,tunnel - visioned,Harris's Adamson is not an easy man to like,but,unlike many of his former characterisations,he is a totally believable one. "To walk with lions" is a "warts and all" portrait of an Africa riven with internal strife and careless of the fate of it's wildlife.Game poachers bribe or intimidate Wardens,rebel "soldiers" rape and murder at will whilst Adamson's Reserve seems an oasis of hope,reason and enlightenment. It could,if you were terribly non PC,be taken as representing the last outpost of the Empire,but of course I'm sure that was not the filmmakers'intention. Ordered by the Kenyan government to quit,Adamson,predictably,digs his heels in,and the scene is set for a confrontation he is not going to win. Stubborness is the feature all the main characters share.Adamson's brother,a man not converted to the cause of the lions ("..the elephant - now "THERE'S an animal!"),his new assistant,Byronic drifter Fitzjohn,mauled by a lion,shot at by poachers,beaten up by soldiers,he still persists in his aim to move Adamson's Reserve to Namibia,and Lucy, Anthropologist and Fitzjohn's partner - in -resolve to continue Adamson's work, they share a steely determination to fulfill their self - allotted tasks. Honor Blackman appears in a small part as Joy Adamson and certainly seizes her moment.Geraldine Chaplin arrives towards the end as Adamson's former mistress .In attempting to rescue her from a rebel ambush he is shot to death. Uncomfortable questions are asked about Africa's future and the future of its wildlife,but with the current genocide in Darfur and strife and unrest in so many other states,it is apparent that the country's leaders may have more on their minds than saving a few animals.From their point of view it may well be a matter of priorities. I was disturbed by this movie,left with an overwhelming feeling of gloom over the fate of millions of my fellow human beings.What they need is someone like George Adamson to speak for them.

The story of George and Joy Adamson and the lioness, Elsa, they raised and gave back to the wild was told in Joy's book and later in the film, 'Born Free', starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers.'To Walk With Lions' takes up the story some years later. George still lives on Kora, surrounded by his ever-increasing brood of lions rescued from circuses and zoos and rehabilitated for survival as nature intended. Joy has left Kora, presumably for a more conventional life elsewhere in Kenya. George's brother Terence dreams of a conservation park where he can nurture and care for his beloved elephants and keep them safe from ivory poachers. And to this strange pair of men comes a new assistant, Tony, who at first cares little for the spirituality of man-animal communication but simply wants to make money.As George Adamson, Richard Harris puts in another towering performance as the stubborn man who sees the lions as blood brothers, kindred spirits who have as much right to exist and be left alone as humans do. Ian Bannen plays Terence very well; a blustering, sarcastic old man in the early part of the film and a broken spirit following the slaughter of his beloved elephants by Africans greedy to sell their tusks. Honor Blackman makes a fleeting appearance as Joy Adamson (who was murdered by her servant in Kenya). John Michie is Tony, and Kerry Fox is Lucy, a doctoral student who befriends the tribesmen but grows to understand the life of the lions.'To Walk With Lions' is a deep film with much to say on the protection of wild animals, the changing face of Africa, and the greed and intolerance of those who only seek to do good. George Adamson's murder at 83 because he refused to leave Kora to the poachers has had a lasting effect - in real life, Tony and Lucy continue to build a sanctuary for the animals in Africa, and were eventually invited back to Kora to continue the work the Adamsons started in the 1950s.This film is about the forces of nature and the passage of time. It is a quiet, understated, and effective piece of work.

This film I thought was very entertaining and well worth watching if you like Africa, animals, stunning scenery, or Richard Harris. It'story follows 2 old men as they live in the outbacks of Africa whilst teaching a young man something (CAN'T REMEMBER). One of the men is in love with lions and the other elephants and they try to defend them from poachers. The ending is shockingly violent and tragic but overall the film is an enjoyable experience.I highly recommend this film. Such a shame Richard can't do any more films like this...peace out