Grey Owl (1999)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Richard Attenborough

Writer:

William Nicholson (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 September 1999 (Spain)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Western

Tagline:

He Fought To Change The World

Plot:

The story of the life and work of the Canadian fur trapper turned conservationist who claimed to be a Native American.

Plot Keywords:

Trapper | Beaver | Canada | National Park | Native American

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Pierce Brosnan	...	Archie Grey Owl
Stewart Bick	...	Cyrus Finney
Vlasta Vrana	...	Harry Champlin
Annie Galipeau	...	Pony
Neil Kroetsch	...	First Hunter
Serge Houde	...	Second Hunter
Peter Colvey	...	Hotel Guest
Nathaniel Arcand	...	Ned White Bear
Jacques Lussier	...	Hotel Manager
Lee-Roy Jacobs	...	Hotel Porter
Jimmy Herman	...	Chief Pete Misebi
John Dunn-Hill	...	Sim Hancock
Graham Greene	...	Jim Bernard
Gordon Masten	...	Gus Mitchell
Chip Chuipka	...	First Trapper

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sensuality/nudity.

Runtime:

Canada:117 min | Spain:120 min | UK:118 min

Country:

UK | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Finland:K-7 | Australia:PG | South Korea:12 | Germany:o.Al. | Spain:T | UK:PG | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Chelsea, Québec, Canada

Company:

Ajawaan Productions

Trivia:

The movie was never given a theatrical release in the United States.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Grey Owl's publisher Champlin arrives by airplane, to convince Grey Owl to go on tour in England, the airplane shown is clearly a DeHavilland DHC-2 "Beaver" on floats. This scene is set in approximately 1935, but the DeHavilland Beaver did not make its first flight until 1947.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Holiday (2006)

Grey Owl is the hole in the doughnut.

The movie is more about Pony than Grey Owl. It's also about aboriginals, Canada, the English, Grey Owl's aunts and the North Bay Nugget. Excellent story.

This is an excellent movie, more like a book, that raises interesting questions about cultural identity and values. The key scene is Grey Owl admitting his imposture to Pony and her reaction.

A few observations on the user ratings. Note that the user ratings are bi-polar clustering at 5 and 7; it's not for everyone, but has a strong following. This movie is underrated and overlooked but will be noticed for years to come. Also, few women have watched the movie but they rate it more highly than men. Has it been marketed properly?