Duma (2005)

Directed by: Carroll Ballard | 100 minutes | drama, family, adventure | Actors: Alex Michaeletos, Campbell Scott, Mary Makhatho, Nthabiseng Kenoshi, Hope Davis, Eamonn Walker, Jennifer Steyn, Nicky Rebello, Garth Renecle, Andre Stolz, Charlotte Savage, Ronald Shange, Nadia Kretschmer, John Whiteley, Clive Scott, Catriona Andrew, Errol Ballentine, Michele Levin, Sam Ngakane, Adelaide Shabalala, Thokozani Ndaba, Wright Ngubane, Bernard Msimang, Ivy Nkutha

The film opens with beautiful images of African wildlife and shows how a cheetah cub is orphaned when its mother falls prey to a pride of lions. Twelve-year-old boy Xan and his father find the young animal by the side of the road and decide to take it home and raise it. When Xan’s father dies suddenly, his mother decides to leave their big farm and move to the big city. The now fully grown cheetah obviously cannot settle in a small town house and soon decides to run away. Xan soon realizes that he must return the animal to nature in order to save it from a life in captivity.

At first glance, the plot of this film seems to indicate an average family film of which there are thirteen in a dozen. However, ‘Duma’ is a film that is above the standard average in many respects. First of all, the animal protagonist in this story is not a standard pet like a dog or cat, but a cheetah, the fastest land mammal in the world that can exceed the speed limit of 100 km per hour in full sprint.

Only real cheetahs (no CGI) were used for this film. From time to time, this produces beautiful images of these magnificent felines in full sprint or rolling with congeners in the tall grass. However, it is not only the cheetahs that make this print something special. The film also conveys a beautiful message and deals with themes such as friendship (both between humans and animals and between humans themselves), the importance of family and inner strength. The answer Xan gives to the question of his fellow traveler Ripkuna why he doesn’t just sell Duma to a zoo or a private buyer for a big chunk of money is telling: “You don’t sell a friend.” Undoubtedly a beacon of light in these sometimes dark days when universal human values ​​and the treasures of the earth are sold en masse for material gain.

The story of Ripkuna, which is strongly based on the theme of the prodigal son, also breathes this message. The beautiful story and the high-quality animal action are supported by beautiful, timeless images that give a good impression of the diverse and richly varied landscape of southern Africa (the film contains shots from South Africa, Namibia and Botswana). Desolate desert landscapes, salt pans, typical African savanna landscapes and swamp deltas are reviewed. A nice soundtrack, which mainly consists of authentic African music, provides the last icing on the cake.

Of course, the critical viewer can also detect a few downsides. The story is somewhat romanticized, an aspect that is reflected, for example, in the return of the cheetah Duma to the wild. This adjustment is very fast. The film still contains a few improbabilities, but it never becomes disturbing and a certain story-technical romanticization is almost unavoidable if you try to make a good family film with a ditto message. A beautiful film for anyone who has a thing for animals and nature.