La fête sauvage

I guess it was just pure luck that I caught an airing of this on the USA TV network back in the early 80's. But have never heard a word about this movie since! It was a marvelous, beautiful film and some of Vangelis' best soundtrack work. If it wasn't for the ONE other comment on this page, I would start to begin to think that I "dreamt" seeing this!

Why has this movie disappeared? How can something like this be so totally forgotten?

Please, may the powers that be reconsider the release of this on DVD...or at least another broadcast on TV. I can't imagine that filming animals was an easy endeavor, so let's give this director some credit where credit is due, and at least let people see it.

Frédéric Rossif specialized in two types of documentary: the historic documentary: "mourir à Madrid" (1963) and the second one concerns animals. Here, "la fête sauvage" ranks in the second quoted type. It's obvious that Rossif takes pleasure in filming animals. His documentary articulates and focuses on several key-moments in the life of an animal: love and its rituals, the anxiety of death, the hunting of the different carnivorous ( the lion, the cheetah, the tiger etc...). If Rossif favours the use of a slow camera, it's precisely in the goal of a better observation of the animal in its action and (why not?) in its living environment. Sometimes, the film-maker tries to define the animal's feelings. Besides, no matter who the animals are because Rossif never favours any animal. He simply films them with much distance as possible. We are under the impression that the movie searches for the aesthetic beauty and it reaches its goal. This beauty expresses itself by some sumptuous pictures and they create a entrancing climate supported by Vangelis' fascinating music. The best sequence is probably the wildebeest hunting of the two lionesses. Even if the comments told are sometimes difficult to understand, they're a good way to enrich your culture of the world animal. At the end, this is a beautiful book of pictures and the work of a keen filmmaker who showed patience. If you wish to discover other Rossif's animal documentaries, try "les animaux" or "sauvage et beau".