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When Wildlife causes Evolution. Review of Druid Peak. In my Blog: http://librosyadolescentes.blogspot.com.es/... Sorry for my English.

When in Gladiator (2000) by Ridley Scott, Maximus (Russell Crowe) returns to Rome for the first time, Lucio Vero (Spencer Treat Clark), the young nephew of Caesar, comes to visit him. Lucio, twelve or thirteen, is attracted to the cages where the fearsome gladiators are exposed to the Roman populace like a Zoo. Slowly, through the bars, he discovers the gaze of Gladiator observing him as an imprisoned animal; when their eyes meet, Lucio and Maximum enter into dialog without a word; when he discovers in the darkness to Russell Crowe, young Spencer Treat Clark do not see a man or a soldier humiliated; he discovers a lion. A caged lion full of hatred and thirst for revenge for the death of his family . That contact with the small Lucio begins to work the transformation of Gladiator, turning again in person.

It seems that the New York actor who has participated to the orders of Clint Eastwood in Mystic River (2003) or M. Night Shyamalan in Unbreakable (2000) knows how to tame the beasts. In Druid Peaks, his latest film, still brand new in theaters, Spencer Treat Clark will have to face with wolves in Yellowstone. His character Owen, a troubled teen, silently watches the animals. He does not need the words to speak with them; He examines and listens them and, best of all, it is that wolves understand and respond to him... without words.

Last November, I was in the Teatre Principal of Palma de Mallorca to the European premiere of Druid Peaks by the New York director, Marni Zelnick, thanks to EVOLUTION FILM FESTIVAL. The Evolution and Sandra Seeling, its director, deserve a separate article. The film debut Zelnick, surprising maturity of their approaches, is about Owen, a rebellious misfit teenager, who abruptly leaves his village to go live with his father (Andrew Wilson) biologist and head of packs of wolves within the Natural Park of Yellowstone. There his contact with wolves and, above all, the discovery of his father works a transformation in his perception of world around him and his person.

Make no mistake: Druid Peaks is not the typical environmental film, with good wolves and dumb kids; The movie does not make explicit and Manichean discourse, where stuffed wolves saves the blonde girl with blue eyes. Not so. You have to read Jack London to understand it. Druid Peaks, is about deeper issues such as maturity, family, fear and forgiveness. We must thank Zelcnik that the film does not give recipes or prefabricated solutions, leaving the spectator to appreciate the work or not. It is precisely for this reason that the transformation of teenage protagonist is credible, real. I do not remember another current movie where such a positive and credible evolution of a troubled teen operated. I come to mind Captains Courageous (1937) by Victor Fleming with Spencer Tracy to find a similar atmosphere.

Certainly, maybe some will accuse Zelcnick her story could be told in much less time than the nearly two-hour; they can also say that Druid Peaks is more like a documentary about the natural park of Yellowstone (celebrated in Spain by the Yogi Bear), and pack of wolves. However, it is difficult to understand the plot, the evolution of the protagonist, if not enjoy the landscapes, flowers and, above all, if we do not take enough time to see how the wolves act. At a time of the screening, the public of Evolution trembled and a sigh toured the stalls and the boxes in the Teatre Principal when one of the wolves appeared suffering. It is possible that ahead an audience flooded with images, who has lost sensitivity to human suffering, Zelnick get right with her vision and she teaches us to discover the sacrifice and redemption of man by animals and wildlife.

As I said earlier, Spencer Clark performs a risky soliloquy looking wolves alone, for much of the film. This continuous loneliness that might have burdened the film, contrary, strengthens it. Spencer is alone in many scenes with only the company of wolves. Surely, it was not easy for someone who is used to roll with actors like Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon or the aforementioned Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. As he himself explained, "Wildlife is the best actor that exists." His look and his figure are sufficient to fill the screen ... and if you ask some collaborators girls who attended him in Evolution.

I do not know what the future holds for an independent film as Druid Peaks, in a film industry that collects frivolous and blockbuster titles. But I think who ever have to deal with adolescence, as parents, educators, or as teenagers find in the work of Marni Zelcnik a light, a guide to the value of Wildlife to the transformation of man. Mandatory for teachers.

Druid Peak, Evolution, Mallorca International Film Festival

"Druid Peak" beautifully captures the struggle of a teenage boy and his way back to life through a connection with nature. Owen's continuous poor decisions in life and high school finally catch up with him and he must now live with the guilt of a best friend's death. At her wit's end, Owen's mother ships him off to live with his estranged father in Yellowstone National Park. Owen and his father connect in a very subtle way, but it is Owen's intrinsic ability to connect with nature that eventually allows him to grow.

The cinematography alone makes this film worth watching, but the heart of the story is so meaningful and rich that the backdrop just augments the film. Relationships are difficult to portray, especially of a teen and a parent, but "Druid Peak" skillfully and delicately shows us all the elements necessary to do so.

With this film, less is definitely more as we learn more from the reactions from the characters and the carefully selected dialogue that is used. This film pulls you in, finding a way to give you empathy for both Owen and his father. The emotional power of both these characters is intensely wonderful; especially as we see such realistic changes in each of them.

The characters are complex, yet real. The writing is succinct and the actors' ability to convey the story, not only with words, but with their actions and expressions is absolutely stunning. Spencer Treat Clark who plays Owen embodies his character perfectly. It's obvious that the director and actors synced harmoniously to give us this remarkable film.

"Druid Peak" is simply beautiful on all levels: it's a compelling and realistic story which is enhanced by stellar cinematography. On the surface, it's a story about a troubled teen, but there are so many layers that it becomes much more than that. It is a story about life.

Everyone saying that this is a touching story about a troubled youth finding himself is delusional. From the very beginning this teen doesn't give the viewer any reason whatsoever to be sympathetic. He is a thug, who's only struggle is having separated parents. Not only did he rough up a kid who was just bringing home some sanitary pads and baby food for his family, he THREW the baby's food to the ground and broke the bottle. What kind of degenerate do you have to be to pull off something like that? To top it all off, as a reward for getting his friend killed, he is sent on vacation to stay in one of the most beautiful places in the U.S. when he SHOULD have been sent to a juvenile detention facility.

It's a shame that the writing was so poor, because the acting, musical score, and cinematography are top notch.

Do not bother. Any movie with animal cruelty gets less than 1 star in my book. They only show him throwing a large stick at a poor chained up dog in a neighbor's front yard.

The main teenage male character is a cruel self involved , violent bully without a conscience. He always seems to be looking for trouble and hence drags everyone else with him through typical teenage intimidation.

Then he has a serious car accident , runs away before trying to help the other seriously injured boys and has his own head injury. A pal dies in the accident, he lies and claims no knowledge of it and the tide finally turns in his violent life.

His Mother is done with him , packs his bag, puts him in the car and takes him to the plane as his Father has now agreed to take him on in Wyoming.

Here his new life starts. Will he change?

This is just one of those films that makes you smile and feel good inside. If that's the kind of movie you're looking for, I highly recommend it. The acting was great, it was well paced and never boring, and the scenery was beautiful. I also learned a thing or two about how the DNR monitors wolves.

It's about a teen who gets in trouble and is sent to live with his father who happens to be a DNR officer, whose focus is on wolves. The teen finds the work to be fascinating and rewarding and discovers that other influences (weather, nature, humans, animals) affect wolves & everything is connected in some way. With this he also realizes that his decisions connect him to others in either a good way or bad way and that he needs to address his prior bad choices. He learns that the bad choices don't define him as a person; there's not good people or bad people, it's the choices a person makes, and he'd rather live his life doing good things and making good choices.

For the negative reviews, I'd say that those people, a. didn't really pay attention during the film, b. Are super judgmental and don't believe a person can change, or c. Are too dumb to grasp any of the underlying messages.

All in all, I definitely recommend this film.

I don't feel it's necessary to describe the film's wonderful cinematography or its other lush, wonderful elements; others have done a good job; don't miss their reviews. Rather, I want to single out what I wish many people could observe-the process whereby people change, and how it was skillfully portrayed in this film. One reviewer was very cynical, and couldn't believe that "kids are all sweet and easily trained to the way we want them to be..." Yes, probably Owen deserved to be thrown in juvy or jail for his crime, but was he going to find redemption from that scenario? No, we know the trajectory of that route. Rather, the writer wants us to see how the preferred end is real change and true success in life, and how that fragile process happens. We see how Owen's "relative" seems to know not to say much; He's a quiet man, with his own past wounds (and reason for abandoning Owen), and has just a few choice words that sink in, said at the right time. And yes, we learn, again, that nature is a powerful healing force (read: God working incognito), and that more kids should be introduced to it as early as possible. I'd rather see a kid come to real repentance (which he finally does; he recognizes that he wronged his friend), based on the effect of grace and mercy rather than for "justice" to be meted out. And his newly found father handles his confession with a few simple words that change his reason for self-hatred. What you see is the effect of authentic communications between strangers, rather than a lot of talking and parrying; their relationship slowly but surely unfolds-helping both the son accept the father and the father accept the son-- based on the father not putting anything on the son and letting him find his own way as he provides a mechanism by which the son can find himself. This is the wonder of the storyteller, the director, and all involved in being able to put this together, in a beautiful way, for us all to enjoy, while we "learn" important lessons.