Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

The Bear Also known as Ours L’ (1989)

Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud ( Seven Years In Tibet & Enemy At The Gates)
Bart the Bear as The Bear (Legends Of The Fall & The Edge)
Youk the Bear as The Bear Cub
Tcheky Karyo as Tom
Jack Wallace as Bill

The Storyline / plot

The story line in the film, The Bear could not be more simple and straight up. You are going through the film as seen from a bears perspective. The story takes place during the mid 1800’s. Youk is a very small bear cub running around the Canadian country side with his mother. Youk is a yearling or there about. His mother is killed when she sets of an avalanche of boulders while trying to unearth some honeycomb. The small bear cub leaves his mother after a couple days of confusion for the small bear.

Youk stumbles into a large mature male Kodiak bear. At first the grouchy old bear didn’t care for the little yahoo cub. The bear had other things to think about such as the two bear hunters in their mountains. Two bear hunters were on the male bears trail and meant to have this very large bears hide. The bear continued to warn the little cub off, but the cub had no where to go so he shadowed the bear. The hunters were finally able to get a shot off at the large bear. The bear is badly wounded but is able to escape. The small cub stays with the wounded bear. After some time the bear finally takes a liking to the small cub. He catches some trout in a river and shares with the cub.

The bear hunters along with a huge pack of hunting dogs continue to trail the bear and the cub. It is just a matter of time before they get the two bears cornered in the mountain bluffs. There’s just one thing, this isn’t your average bear. This old bear is smart, wounded and pissed off.

Conclusion

The Bear is a great film. I have never seen anything quite like it. As we are seeing the film from the bears perspective, there’s not much dialog. You’d think that the film would suffer for it. This has quite the opposite effect. The film is raw nature. So if you enjoy nature or bears, you would like this one. The scenery is some of the most gorgeous country that I have ever seen in a movie. Spring time in the mountains is always beautiful. The cinematography was well shot.

The film was not as dry as you may think, because of the lack of dialog. Instead there was plenty issues going on with the bears and their situation. There was even some humor in the film. Youk stumbles into a patch of “purple mushrooms”. After a few paw fulls of the psychedelic shrooms, Youk goes on color trip without leaving the woods. The directing was very well done. Jean-Jacques Annaud seems to produce, write or direct several films that I have enjoyed. I also enjoyed Seven days in Tibet and, Enemy at the Gates. The man knows his business and does it well. The acting was great! Bart the bear should have won more awards before his death, in 2000. Bart passed away at the age of 20. This is normal for a bear. Bart the bear played in no less than fifteen motion pictures. Some of his more popular films are; The Edge, Legends of The Fall, On Deadly Ground and White Fang, just to mention a few. Bart plays an excellent scary bear. The small bear cub Youk is cute.

The film is very original, from the view of two bears. Furthermore it had a real feel of authenticity. Someone who is expecting to see something like The Edge, may not like this movie. This movie is about 90% nature and just 10% action, by way of the (bad guy) hunters. So if you watch this film with that in mind, you may enjoy it. I had no idea what it was about and I for one really enjoyed the film. The film was under-rated, and not seen by many. I give The Bear five of five stars and have added the film to my personal collection.

Similar Movies

• The Edge
• Windwalker
• White Fang

RUNTIME: 1 Hour 34 minutes
Rated : [PG] for violence

Thanks for the read,
~Mac

@2004 Joe McMaster


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older