James Hitchcock A number of Richard Attenborough's films as director have been biographies of major historical figures- "Young Winston", "Gandhi", "Chaplin". "Grey Owl" is also a filmed biography of a historical individual, but in this case Attenborough's subject is a much more obscure character.Grey Owl was a Canadian writer of the 1920s and 1930s who promoted the ideas of environmentalism and nature conservation at a time when these causes were less fashionable than they are today. He was widely believed to be an American Indian; the story he told about himself was that he had been born in Mexico to a Scottish father and Apache mother and had emigrated to Canada where he had been adopted as a member of the Ojibway tribe. He lived in a cabin by a lake in a remote part of the Canadian wilderness, where he earned a living as a trapper. He toured Britain twice, in 1935 and 1937, to promote his books and to give lectures on conservationism, and achieved great success, even being introduced to the Royal Family. (During one of these tours Attenborough, then a teenager, saw Grey Owl at the London Palladium theatre). After his death in 1938, however, it was revealed that he had not been who he claimed to be; his real name was Archibald Belaney, and he had been born in the English seaside town of Hastings.The film departs somewhat from the facts of Grey Owl's life. In a scene set in 1934 he states that he is 41 years old; in reality, he was born in 1888 so would have been 46 in that year. (46 would have been Pierce Brosnan's age when the film was made, so I am not sure why this change was made). Numerous events are compressed into the last four years of Grey Owl's life (1934-1938). In the film it is during this period that he meets and marries Gertrude Bernard whom he called Anahareo; in reality, he met and married Gertrude as early as 1925. The film also omits the fact that they were divorced in 1936 and that Grey Owl remarried shortly before his death.The revelation of Grey Owl's true identity adversely affected his posthumous reputation, and he was dismissed as a "fraud". His supposed deceit was even used to discredit the causes which he had championed. Richard Attenborough, however, takes a more sympathetic view of his achievements. One of the themes explored by the film is the question of ethnic identity. Although the erstwhile Archibald Belaney was not a Canadian Indian by birth, there is no doubt that he had a deep knowledge of Ojibway culture and lore and that he spoke their language fluently. He was accepted by the Ojibway as a member of their tribe. It therefore seems unfair to describe his claim to a Native North American identity as being a fraudulent one, merely because it was an identity he had chosen rather than one he had been born into.According to the film, Grey Owl's wife Gertrude was herself of Indian descent, but came from a family which had been assimilated into white Canadian culture. Her marriage can therefore be seen as her reclamation of her family's original cultural heritage. She was clearly influenced by her husband, but she also had an influence on him, persuading him to give up his work as a fur trapper as she had moral objections to killing animals for their fur.One criticism made of the film is that Pierce Brosnan is "miscast" as the hero, a criticism which seems to be rooted in the preconception that Brosnan can only play action heroes in the James Bond mould. It seems to me, however, that Brosnan may deliberately have taken this role in order to avoid being typecast, the taciturn backwoodsman Grey Owl being about as far from the suave, sophisticated agent Bond as one can get. The original Bond, Sean Connery, also seems to have deliberately opted for contrasting roles when he appeared in films like "The Hill" or "The Molly Maguires". Brosnan is in fact very good in this role, although I would agree with those who found Annie Galipeau weak as Gertrude.Another frequently-voiced criticism with which I would not agree is that the film is "boring". Certainly, it is not an action film like the Bonds, nor is it a great epic biopic like "Gandhi", and it may indeed seem boring to those who were expecting it to be either the one or the other. It is however, likely to please anyone with an interest in the early days of the conservationist movement or the philosophical implications of national and ethnic identity. The scenes of the Canadian forests are also beautifully photographed. Richard Attenborough has done us a service by helping to revive interest in this half-forgotten but fascinating figure. 7/10

springhiler To the Native People, this movie is about what some call a "would-a-be" or "White Indian"; although the Ojibway people, whom Gray Owl's life turns o not use the word "Indian" but "Anishnabe" which means a good person. Gray Owl as an white and wanting to live the native way, is called a "White Indian".This movie shows him living on and around Bear Island, in Northern Ontario. Gray Owl, shows us his view of their life through his eyes and explain how the northern Canadian native; has been changed by civilization. (trapping,hunting and tourism as in the scene where the "War dance" is performed after a hat-passing collection) It is also an interesting documentary of how the Canadian beaver became a part of the 5 cent coin; as the story advances into how Gray Owl worked to conserve and even reinstate this animal which was endangered from over trapping.The story is beautiful told to us who know and live the savage life of the Northern wilderness and how beautiful it is to return to the basic of nature and leave problems of civilization behind.The scene of most important, to me, also a white Indian, is when Gray Owl meets the Americian Chiefs and they all laugh at the blue-eyed would-a-be Indian. But the quote of the chief was how it did not matter the color of one skin but the color of one's heart. Everyone should have a dream, but if a Gray Owl we can live this dream it is beautiful.. Another similar and great movie of this type is "The return of a Man called Horse" with Richard Harris.A lot can be learned from this movie.. even now after I have visited the area and met the people, I still see great lessons. (for example, Gray Owls friend is an Cree and shown this native group,living with the Ojibway on Bear Island.Interesting off-side of this film is a recent development of an Australian who just finished a summer on Bear Island after wanting to learn about the source of this film. "Broken Arrow - A white Indian"

bob the moo Archie Grey Owl had a Scottish mother but he had an Indian father and was raised as such. As an adult in the 1930's he continues to live as his people did – something that draws the interest of Pony, a woman who is looking for her roots having been brought up in the city. She joins him to experience this for herself and gradually finds herself falling in love with him. She convinces him to give up trapping and gets him on the side of conversation and preservation. Gradually his writing and speaking brings him to a world audience and threatens to reveal secrets he himself has denied for years.When this film came out in the cinema it looked a bit dull and I, like many others, decided not to bother with it. On television I gave it a try and, despite having just about enough going for it to watch, I must admit that my initial impressions were spot on because this is a film that takes its time to really go nowhere. The story is basically that a man raised the importance of conservation to an international level but he was not an Indian as he claimed – and that's pretty much it. Given that we already known the man is not an Indian (not a spoiler – it is a true story and he is played by Bond!) then it is more a matter of waiting for the characters to find out and see what happens. Meanwhile we have lots of gorgeous landscapes and lots of messages about conservation. When the secrets come out, they come out slowly and without fanfare – continuing to make the film feel a little dull and empty.Brosnan tries hard with a person that the script doesn't really get to the heart of and he does manage to give a good performance even if his dialogue is occasionally a bit too preachy and obvious for my liking. Galipeau is a real problem because she is as wooden as the forests around her and she barely has any chemistry with Brosnan. The support cast are OK but really the film is about Brosnan and it is to his credit that he kept me watching considering how little he had to work with. The direction is as slow and deliberate as the story but this seems to suit the tone of the script and certainly works well with the cinematography and landscapes.Overall though the film is simply too empty and plodding to really hit the spot. No fuss is made about the secret life – surprisingly considering this seemed to be its main thrust; instead the film looks at Archie himself and is frustrated by how guarded he is (both in reality and the film), again making it drag a bit. In the end large sections just looked good and had a vague conservationist "to thine own self be true" message but not a great deal else. Watchable but requires patience.

hokeybutt GREY OWL (2+ outta 5 stars)Interesting but much-too-earnest movie about a white man (Pierce Brosnan), obsessed since childhood with Indian culture, who convinced the world that he was an actual half-breed Indian... lecturing and touring the world. Entranced by his writings and the pride he takes in his "heritage", a young Indian falls in love with him and joins him in his wilderness home... but even she does not know the truth. Eventually, the guilt overwhelms him and he finds he can no longer preach about conservation while living his life as a fraud. I kinda liked the movie... Pierce's performance was alright... but Annie Galipeau steals the movie as his full native love interest. I think the only problem with the movie is that it takes itself a little too seriously... treating the character of Grey Owl as more of a saintly crusader than the "crazy white man" he probably was in reality.