The Last Lions

The Last Lions, a National Geographic film made by the husband and wife team of Beverly and Dereck Joubert, is filled with breathtaking cinematography, a sumptuous and dynamic musical score, and extremely intelligent and effective storytelling. The Jouberts have produced numerous films and books about animals in the wild, have spent decades studying and documenting lions across the African continent, and have proven to be among the most effective advocates for understanding and appreciating the precarious state of today's wildlife. The filmmakers spent seven years in the Okavango Delta, one of the remotest parts of Botswana and one of the last remaining refuge for lions in the world. Much of the film was shot on Duba Island, an even more remote area that the main characters of the film were forced to finally flee to.

The Last Lions is a dramatic and moving story that is expertly told. The film opens with an animation of the earth, seen from distant space, that highlights the problem that all living species face - uncontrolled human population growth is threatening to absorb and transform the planet's surface in a way that is unsustainable. The voice behind the well-written and often poetic narration is Jeremy Irons - his soothing cadence guides us like the presence of an old friend. After some stunning arial footage of the African wilderness we meet a family of lions who seem to have it pretty good. Ma di Tau (“Mother of Lions”) has a powerful husband who feeds and protects her. They have three small cubs, each developing distinct personalities - one is a male who, being the smallest, is probably the least likely to survive. But life is never stable in the wild and soon their world is turned upside down. With the advancement of humans to the north a large pride of hungry and aggressive lions appear, determined to make Ma di Tau's home their own. With their years of experience and access to the right technology (extremely long lenses and very sensitive microphones) the Joubert's have achieved the kind of access that literally immerses us into the lives of these powerful and dangerous creatures. Ma di Tau's fight with a pack of marauding lioness's, for instance, is terrifying. Shot in closeup at night using infrared lighting, the wounded mother spins left, then right, trying to defend herself against the overwhelming numbers that circle closer and closer. But Ma di Tau survives, and is able to join her three cubs as she nurses herself back to health. The father is not so fortunate - the lioness finds her critically wounded partner unable to rise, his great body destroyed while defending their home.

As we follow the journey of the mother and her young cubs the film becomes more remarkable with each obstacle and dangerous event they encounter. To escape the lions who have killed her partner and threaten her young Ma di Tau will test her understanding of the world in order to survive. Lions do not like water at all - yet she realizes that she must lead her cubs through a crocodile infested swamp to get to the safety of the island on the other side. The danger to the cubs is a constant tension for viewers - and for the mother. We realize early in the film that it is less a question of whether they will die, than when and how their death may come. Because the filmmakers have continuous access to the family we, as viewers (with the help of the superb narration and delivery by Irons) begin to fear what seems to be the inevitable. Even so, it would be impossible to be prepared for the heartbreaking and unforgettable moments of loss, and of hope, that the film delivers.

The story succeeds because the filmmakers documented the lion family over many years and accumulated breathtaking footage of the land, the animals, and nature. Knowing the lions with an intimacy that only comes with experience the Jouberts help us to understand them as characters, with a keen interest in the psychology of survival. The film is intelligently constructed, intercutting between the invading lions still threatening the family from the other side of the water, a large herd of buffalo who become both prey and danger, the mother attempting to feed her young, and the cubs who must be protected. As the conflicts accelerate we experience tension, fear and ultimately hope that Ma di Tau can somehow save her young from a world that is brutal and unforgiving. Continuously adapting to survive, she even experiences flashbacks to her savage fight for survival, ultimately giving her the courage to face them once again.

Through the "Big Cat Initiative" the filmmakers and National Geographic have created ways to support the relatively few lions living in the wild. The Last Lions is a film that brings us into the lives of these complex and beautiful animals - and makes it easy to understand why we might want to help preserve a species that will disappear unless we become involved.

                                    Thomas W. Campbell