Grey Owl (DVD)

Grey Owl (DVD) ... DVD released 19 April, 2004 at 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Features of the DVD: PAL / Of all the biopics directed by Sir Richard Attenborough, Grey Owl is the most curious. Unlike the great and significant lives celebrated in Ghandi, Chaplin and Shadowlands, here Attenborough gives us the story of a man who has long been forgotten. Pierce Brosnan stars as Archie Grey Owl, whom we initially meet as a solitary trapper in 1930's outback Canada. His life story seems simple enough at first, but with the introduction of a wannabe pupil (Annie Galipeau), some cracks appear around the edges. Love complicates matters enormously, yet ultimately comes to explain Archie's big secret and why the film is structured in a cyclical fashion. Brosnan was reportedly disappointed with the final version of the film, feeling it ought to have focused on the more depressing aspects of Grey Owl's life. But that would have been at the expense of the touching love story, and potentially of the simply stunning scenery on which the camera lavishes much attention. The final public revelation of Grey Owl's secret resulted in him being dismissed as nothing but a fraud in his day. Attenborough's tale of boyhood dreams and commitment to cherished principles may not be as memorable as his more high-profile biopics, but will hopefully ensure the subject won't be forgotten again quite so quickly.--Paul Tonks