Review Of One Lucky Elephant Movie Review Sample

The ever-rising debate about animal rights and the relationship between wild species and human beings has gained yet another converging point with the documentary “One Lucky Elephant.” Director Lisa Leeman chose for her film a less common approach on the subject that ultimately enables the viewer to see the entitling pachyderm not as just another overdramatized anthropomorphic being but rather as the captivated wild beast that it really is. This added to the emotional nature of the tale itself raise a series of questions about the discussion that are worth considering. But first it is imperative to make a brief analysis of what the production is all about.
“One Lucky Elephant” tells the story of a ringmaster called David Balding and the close relationship he had with his pet (also referred as daughter and mistress in the movie) Flora, an African elephant he bought for his circus in 1984 and loved ever since. The animal had just been orphaned when they met, and the bond between the two grew exponentially from this very first encounter. Together they developed several tricks that made Flora the name and the biggest star of the company he ran, place that she majestically held for 16 straight years. The major reason for Leeman’s documentary begins then and there: after these almost two decades of stardom the elephant starts to show signs of tiredness and Balding decides it was time for her to retire, problem being now where to send a 44 ton pachyderm that was actually cared for.
What becomes clear from the beginning of the movie is that the ringmaster truly loved his most acclaimed celebrity. She was his best friend, as aforementioned the daughter that he never had and also a kind of mistress to his wife. Flora, if it depended solely on David Balding himself, would enjoy her days of retirement on the circus’ backyard, still close to him and to all the surrounding she was used to. That was where she belonged to, he repeatedly claims on the footage. The place where she grew up in and where her only friends lived and worked. But no, she could not stay there for the 40+ years remaining in her life. She needed interaction with other fellow elephants. She had grown up amongst people treating and caressing her all the time, so it was time to experience some wilderness, a bit of territory dispute and food hunt. To sum up, Flora’s only friends had only and always been human beings — and that would prove itself the major issue for her readaptation.
Flora had not faced another pachyderm since she was separated from her family and bought by Balding. She lived all her life, as stated before, surrounded solely by artists that petted, children that loved her for being gigantic and an overprotective caretaker/foster parent. Her nature, however, was harmonious. She had learnt how to be tolerant. That is why their first attempt at reintegrating her into an environmentally controlled wilderness, namely a zoo, was not by any means a complete failure: Flora not only blended into the herd but also showed a prompt and tactful submission to its leader. If it was not for a little misunderstanding, or so David Balding called, with a new handler she would have lived there forever. Some broken ribs and the fractured femur of the zoo employee, though, put Flora on the news and led them to re-start their quest for a new home.
Balding, in the meantime, started to demonstrate his uneasiness with this separation even through the deterioration of his physical health. He did not want to part from his long life companion, and seeing that Flora was having “minor” troubles with settling down on an unfamiliar habitat with new friends and different keepers made him feel even worse. He pondered, then, on taking the animal back, or sending her to places that he did not entirely approve of (just to discard the thought right on the spot). In the movie these considerations reassured to the public the legit preoccupation of the ringmaster with the future of his beloved friend. For Balding it was not enough that Flora was deservedly out of scene; he wanted her to have a decent life afterwards.
Their fortune began to change when Balding received a phone call from an old-time friend saying that she had an available place for Flora at her sanctuary. Carol Buckley, herself a former circus performer, only agreed to accept African elephants after one of her Asian specimen, considered less aggressive than the other ones, had an episode of rage, and Flora and Balding were the first ones on her list. Their relationship, however, ended up not being the most amiable of all,with some disagreements over the animal’s treatment being on verge, but this is the turning point where “One Lucky Elephant” tries to make its main point: to what extend, the documentary proposes, a connection between human being and wild animal is healthy? Is the “love” they feel for each other more important than the preservation of an endangered species? How moral is it? All questions that Lisa Leeman skillfully leaves for the viewer to answer.
This morality doubts happen because the movie clearly displays the agony that takes over David Balding when Carol asks him not to see Flora anymore. According to the sanctuary manager the shock of losing the entire family at a such young age and then being adopted by an overprotective caregiver left the elephant with a psychological disorder that could and would not be treated with his constant presence. At some point she stated that if Balding really loved this animal so much he should leave her to live her life amongst her peers exclusively. No more random human interaction, especially with someone that Flora had such an emotional connection.
Whether or not they made any sort of agreement for regular visits in the end is left unclear. Balding begged for it, saying that he dreamt of Flora every night of his life, but Carol Buckley did not seem eager to accept. She was adamant: the only way for the elephant to feel reintegrated to the nature she originally belonged was by breaking her bonds with the human race as she knew it — this caring and loving and protective kind of people she had grown up amongst. From then on humans around Flora should to be for practical reasons only. They could not represent “family” to her anymore, but rather a different species of animal. She needed to socialize exclusively with her fellow pachyderms, that is.
There are no clear verification to these allegations. A psychiatrist gives an explanation about the disorder but it is all based on personal researches. “One Lucky Elephant” does a really good job as a documentary when it only shows the reality as is — with all its incongruences and drama — and leaves it up to the viewer how to interpret these facts. At the end of the film one may ask what difference it makes if the object of one’s affection is an elephant, a dog or another human being. As long as the right decisions are made about their future, be it together or apart, any kind of love is essentially positive rather than destructive. Nobody in real life, however, seems to ever know for sure what the right decisions are.