Yesterday's Films, Today's Issues: Hatari!

Going into Howard Hawks' Hatari! at BAM this past Wednesday night I had a feeling I would like it.  I mean the film's description is kind of amazing:

"John Wayne has never been better than as the leader of a pack of big-game hunters on the African plains who tackle rhinoceroses, elephants, and giraffes to sell to American zookeepers. Hawks’ late-career masterpiece is funny, tender, and thrilling, with some truly awesome scenes of capturing wild animals."

However, even knowing that I was going to really enjoy the film, I was still surprised by  how much I truly really loved it.  Simply put Hatari! is kind of like hanging out with great old friends for 2.5 hours with occasional bursts of action and animal capturing.  Wayne, Red Buttons and the entire crew are warm, funny and make you want to be a part of their world.  And that world is where we get to the issue part of this post, capturing animals to be put in zoos.

On the surface this is of course upsetting, I hate how animals are treated in zoos and the idea of taking them from their natural homes in Africa to put in cages across the world is not something I support.  But what Hatari! brings to light is how we treat and care for those animals in today's world.   I was really struck by how much all the characters in the movie truly cared for the animals they were capturing. None of their methods were harsh or cruel and they almost always opted for trying again if an animal was too much to handle instead of using extreme practices. At one point they even take in a few baby elephants who've lost their parents despite the fact that they will be of no gain to them.  They go out of their way to care for them and to find a way to feed them.

Today it seems animals are treated with little to no personal care and are put in horrific conditions when it comes to zoos or animals that are used to give us food.  I can't help but think of the comparison of Food, Inc. hero Joel Salatin to the characters in Hatari!.   In Food, Inc. almost all of the farmers featured keep their animals in horrible conditions and treat them very badly, Salatin on the other hand treats his animals with love, letting them roam and eat good food.   Salatin of course still kills his animals for food but he treats them humanely.  Likewise the characters in Hatari! do capture animals for zoos (not a great thing, but something, like eating meat, that isn't going to stop anytime soon) but they do so in a humane way.

For a quick taste of how much fun Hatari! is give a watch to the wonderful clip below. And be sure to learn more about treating animals humanely in the act section of this post!