Vivre libre

Original title: Born Free

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

7.3K

YOUR RATING

This wondrous true adventure from the best-selling novel about a woman who raised a lioness and eventually set her free is beautifully photographed on the vast, golden savannas of central Africa.

When game warden George Adamson (Bill Travers) is forced to kill a menacing lion and lioness, he and his wife Joy (Virginia McKenna) adopt their three cubs. Two are sent off to zoos, but the third is kept - a female they name Elsa - to which they have become particularly attached. When Elsa becomes a full grown lioness, the Adamsons realise that she must be set free and taught to survive on her own. A year later the Adamsons return to the savanna and are surprised by a very special welcome from their old friend.

Highly acclaimed for its cinematography and music, Born Free is a story of courage and love, nature, and a relationship unlike any other ever filmed. Eureka Entertainment is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK, in a special Dual-Format edition.

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Jungle Adventure Adventure Biography Drama Family

The story of George and Joy Adamson and the orphaned lion cub, Elsa, they adopt.The story of George and Joy Adamson and the orphaned lion cub, Elsa, they adopt.The story of George and Joy Adamson and the orphaned lion cub, Elsa, they adopt.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

7.3K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 2 Oscars
- 5 wins & 7 nominations total

James
(as Robert Young)

Geoffrey Best

Watson

Surya Patel

Doctor

Elsa

Lion Cub
(uncredited)
…

Pati

Rock Hyrax
(uncredited)

Directors
- James Hill
- Tom McGowan
Writers
- Joy Adamson
- Lester Cole
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews57

7.27.3K

Featured reviews

8Natheer

innocence lost

It's really hard now days to get the same feelings that this film brings to your soul, innocence, love, devotion, honesty. It's all rare commodities in the today's life in general. It's really hard now days to get the same feelings that this film brings to your soul, innocence, love, devotion, honesty. It's all rare commodities in the today's life in general. Virginia McKenna & Bill Travers are the perfect couples.

The film brings you the atmosphere of the great African wildlife on its last glorious days; I and my family enjoyed this film very much. It was a wonderful experience for my kids its represent the animal in a realistic and compassionate way not like the cg cartoons or other comic animal films of todays.

8sddavis63

Great Story

This really is a wonderful movie - a true story; funny, dramatic, bittersweet, and with a title song that will never be forgotten by anyone who hears it.

Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers star as Joy and George Adamson. He is the game warden in a game reserve in northern Kenya; she is his wife, and together they adopt three orphaned lion cubs. Sending two of them to zoos, the third (Elsa, who was the darling of the bunch) stays behind and becomes something of a household pet, until the inevitable day comes when she has to be either taught to live in the wild on her own, or sent to a zoo.

You find yourself rooting for Elsa, shedding a few tears with Joy and in the end feeling quite uplifted by how the whole thing turns out. It's a fast movie (about an hour and a half in length) which is good, the editing I thought was a bit rough (although there are some great shots of Africa and its wild life) and in the end it's a great feel-good movie for the whole family.

8/10

7Paul-250

Returning Lions To The Wild

Set in Kenya in the 1960's, and based on factual events, the film is the story of how a young orphaned lion cub is rescued by a British colonial couple who run a wildlife sanctuary and then prepared for a return to the wild. The scenery is spectacular, and the thin dividing line between death and survival in the wild is palpable. But the film is not only about struggle, it is, in an almost unique way, a love story too; one between a woman and a lioness. Hugely popular when released, the film still has the power to move. An especially good movie for families.

Smalling-2

Born Free

Joy Adamson and her husband, Kenya game warden George Adamson, bring up a lion cub Elsa, but later they have to teach her about the wild and free life she was born to.

Warm, good-looking but rather casually assembled screen version of a highly popular bestseller, with irresistible animal shots that made it enormously successful at the box-office - and over the years a family film "par excellence". It started a cycle then and was followed by the less successful "Living Free".

7Wuchakk

A must for animal lovers

"Born Free" (1965) is a great film for animal lovers, especially cat lovers. It tells the story of a couple living in Africa who come across three orphan lion cubs and keep one female, whom they name Elsa. Later they are pressured to give Elsa up to a zoo, but the woman can't because, as she argues, Elsa was born free and should therefore live free. She'd never be happy in a zoo.

Unfortunately, Elsa has become too tame as a result of living with the couple. Can Elsa ever adapt to the wild or will she be condemned to a cage in a zoo?

The footage of Elsa with the couple is amazing. She's like their pet cat! I'd love to have a lioness pet to hug and pat and walk around the yard with!

Shot in beautiful Kenya, the film runs 95 minutes.

GRADE: B+

Storyline

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Trivia
The lions "Boy," "Girl," and "Ugas" were freed upon the completion of production, under protest from the film company who wanted to sell the lions to zoos to recoup some of their money from filming.

Goofs
When Elsa is playing with and chasing the elephant herd, she is not wearing her collar. But in the next scene when she returns with an elephant calf, she is wearing her collar.

Quotes
Joy Adamson: Elsa, Elsa
[Joy cries sitting out on the hood of the truck as they ride in search of the young lioness]
George Adamson: Let's try this.
[2 shots ring out from his gun. George sees Elsa stumbling through the grass, approaching their vehicle]
Joy Adamson: all my nightmares had come true.
[Now Elsa rests in their tent as they argue over her]
George Adamson: ...she can't make it. she can't think. she can't mix with her own kind... She can't do anything the wild animals do to survive. You've done too good a job on her. You've made her tame. It's too late to try to let her go wild now. All we're doing is making her miserable, torturing her. How could you be so cruel?
Joy Adamson: You keep quiet George.
George Adamson: I don't know what goes on in that head of yours anymore... What's wrong with a zoo, anyway?
Joy Adamson: nothing. Except that she won't be free.
George Adamson: and Is freedom so important?
Joy Adamson: yes, yes, she was born free and she has the right to live free. Why don't we live in a more comfortable setting George? Other people do. We chose to live out here cause it represents freedom for us. Because we can breathe.
George Adamson: Joy, tell me the truth. You just don't want to give her up. What you're really hoping is that she can stay out here, wild, but not too wild. That you can see her every now and then.
Joy Adamson: it's not the whole truth. But I don't deny I'd like it.
George Adamson: it's impossible. It cannot happen.
Joy Adamson: ...at least she would be free. At least she wouldn't be in a cage for the rest of her life.
George Adamson: even if she gets herself killed in the process.
Joy Adamson: [stroking Elsa's leg] I'd never forgive myself I suppose.
[Joy narrates]
Joy Adamson: although at one time we were afraid she'd die, Elsa did recover. And when she did, she seemed somehow different.