When Born Free was made in 1965 I was but a mere slip of a girl as they say. In those days, here in Western Australia, it would take at least a couple of years before we would see films which had been released overseas. I can recall going to the cinema to see Born Free. It was a great occasion and I can still remember how the movie made me feel as I watched it on the big screen as a child.
More than thirty years have passed and my second viewing of Born Free was just the other day on video in the comfort of my own living room with my children who were not surprisingly, captivated by this very beautiful albeit simple film just as I was many years before.
Born Free was produced by Sam Jaffe and Paul Radin and directed by James Hill with screen play by Gerald L C Copley based upon the best selling book by Joy Adamson about her life in Kenya. It was presented for release by Columbia Pictures and Carl Foreman in 1966 and won the Oscar in 1966 for Best Motion Picture Score and Best Song for Born Free. The sound track for the film was written and conducted by John Barry.
Born Free tells the real life story of the experiences of George & Joy Adamson during their time in Kenya, east Africa and a lioness they came to love and named Elsa.
George Adamson is a senior game warden. During the course of events, he has no alternative but to eradicate two lions who pose a threat. Subsequently he and his wife Joy care for three lion cubs orphaned by these events. The Adamsons care lovingly for their adopted lion cubs until the sad day comes where they are to be sent away to be housed in zoos. George Adamson, understanding his wife's special attachment to one particular cub which she has named Elsa, sends only the other two cubs away and Elsa remains on with the Adamsons much to Joy's delight.
Eventually the day comes where the Adamsons are to leave Kenya for a year and what is to become of Elsa who has been brought up as a much loved domestic pet? Elsa is nearing maturity and the Adamson's realise that their loving treatment of Elsa has prepared her for no other life than the confines of a cage in a zoo, a fate which Joy Adamson in particular is adamant that she will not suffer. They realise that she must be taught to survive on her own if she is ever to be free.
So begins a gruelling schedule of training the domesticated Elsa to become wild, to be able to feed herself, to learn the ways of the wilderness, and to interact with other lions in an appropriate manner so that she can remain free as she was born to be.
Born Free has been described as an animal film but it is so much more than that. It is a love story. Here is love so great that the object of that has to be set free and yet, because she is so truly loved, she returns, in a kind of acknowledgment of that selfless loving act, that of letting her go. This is a study of a truly remarkable relationship between two exceptional human beings and a wild animal who are brought together by a twist of fate and from that point onward, deeply affect one another's lives. A remarkable set of cirumstances and a reminder of all that is beautiful and worthwhile in this world.
Born Free stars Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, a real life husband and wife who are perfectly cast as Joy and George Adamson. The film is told from the point of view of Joy's recollections which are narrated by her throughout the film, therefore Virginia McKenna has the more prominent role. Watching the film, it is hard to imagine that she is not really Joy Adamson.
There are two other outstanding aspects to this movie. One is the visual impact of the film, shot as it is in the most spectacular of African settings. The second is the sublime soundtrack by John Barry which truly defies description. The haunting title track Born Free is threaded throughout the film and then sung at the end of the movie by Matt Monro during the screen credits . The layering of the wonderful music and the majestic scenery is quite a package and something to behold. Certainly, the much later film Out Of Africa recreates in some respects the kind of on atmospheric screen magic which is evident in Born Free.
The film depicts a slice of life as it was for expatriates in Kenya during the 50's and 60's and is thus an interesting historical record of those times. It is also and importantly a film about Africa, it's beauty, it's harshness & its unique character.
Here is a film which most people will enjoy and which is suitable for folk of all ages. Born Free runs for 93 minutes and is rated G for general exhibition. There are some hilarious moments in this film and only the hard hearted will get to the end of 93 minutes without moist eyes. A feel good movie which reminds us that real love is pure and selfless and knows no bounds. A reminder of the simple beauty of this world and that miracles are possible.
Joy Adamson wrote a sequel to Born Free called Living Free which was also translated to film. Tragically, Joy was murdered on January 3, 1980 near her camp in the Shaba Nature Reserve. A former employee was convicted of her murder. Her ashes were scattered upon the grave of a cheetah she called Pippa and the lioness Elsa. She was survived by her husband, George.
In Kenya British game warden George Adamson and his wife Joy raise a lioness Elsa as a pet only to discover that they must retrain her to live in the ...More at Family Video
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