Duma

I'll admit it, the thought of a movie about a South African boy and his cheetah does nothing for me, even if it's directed by Carroll Ballard of The Black Stallion fame. But when Warner Brothers is criticized for not having any faith in the film, dumping it in a few markets with no marketing to speak of -- and when a handful of critics manage to see it, despite Warner's best efforts, and proclaim its value -- my interest is piqued. Duma may not be the masterpiece some have claimed, but it is a very good film and deserves to be seen.

Twelve-year-old Xan (Alexander Michaeletos) lives on a remote farm with his parents, Kristin (Hope Davis) and Peter (Campbell Scott). One night, the family Porsche almost runs down an orphaned cheetah cub. Named Duma, the local name for "cheetah," the baby quickly grows into a prime example of the world's fastest mammal. Following Peter's death, circumstances lead the boy to set out on his own to return Duma to the wild.

Xan and Duma face a dangerous trek across a vast desert, but are joined by Ripkuna (Eamonn Walker), who left his native village to try to make it in the city only to have to return to his wife and children. Xan and Ripkuna initially see each other only as someone who can help them survive, but gradually they become friends.

In addition to his boy-and-his-horse masterpiece, Ballard's credits include Never Cry Wolf (adults and wolves) and Fly Away Home (girl and her geese). The director has been stuck in the animal genre by accident, while his dream project (a realistic, warts-and-all adaptation of "Huckleberry Finn") remains unrealized. Ballard uses Duma as a try-out with the white boy and the black man coming together to overcome obstacles. There is even a homemade raft, as in Mark Twain's novel. While Twain's runaway slave Jim is noble from the beginning, Ripkuna at first seems dangerous, even a tad psycho. Duma might have had more bite had Ripkuna taken longer to evolve into a saint.

Nevertheless, Walker (whose credits include Oz) is fascinating to watch as Ripkuna struggles with his mixed emotions. His is the best human performance in a Ballard film since Mickey Rooney's wise horse trainer in The Black Stallion. The title character also gives a good performance. Duma is played by five cheetahs, one actually owned by Michaeletos. The cheetahs aren't actually acting, of course, but Ballard and editor T. M. Christopher create this illusion through visual juxtapositions to give the impression that Duma is expressing the thoughts and emotions we want him to be conveying.

The best thing about Duma is the journey into the wilderness, which Ballard makes both epic and intimate. A former cinematographer, Ballard knows how to frame shots and move the camera. A respite in a crashed plane brings the contrast between civilization and nature into focus. Ballard and cinematographer Werner Maritz create one beautiful widescreen image after another.

Duma is an unsentimental film with plenty to engage adult viewers. It could have been even better had Ballard been free to make it as he wanted. He has said in interviews that he objected to the death of the father and to the inclusion of shots of Kristin searching for her son, which interrupt the film's rhythms and the sense of the characters' isolation. I'm sure the voiceover explaining the meaning of the film at the end was yet more studio interference.

Not knowing how to handle Duma, Warner planned to dump in on only a handful of screens until Scott Foundas of Variety sneaked into a children's film festival in Los Angeles. His rave review forced Warner into opening it somewhat wider, but the studio still did not try to sell it. Of course, all this is ironic given Warner Independent's smooth handling of March of the Penguins.

This same lack of corporate interest is on display with the DVD. While the transfer is breathtakingly sharp and the sound is excellent, the only extras are a theatrical trailer and two "extended" scenes of no interest. Perhaps, one day, we can have a director's cut with a fascinating making-of. How did they train those cheetahs anyway? -- Michael Adams