Set in Europe more than 20,000 years ago during the last Ice Age, Alpha is a fable about how a caveman first bonded with a wolf. Preparing for the annual Great Hunt, Chief Tau (Johannes Haukur Johannesson) is concerned about his sensitive teenage son, Keda (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who hasn’t quite mastered all the necessary skills. As his mother Rho (Natassia Malthe) says, “Keda leads with his heart, not his spear.” Joining other tribesmen, they stampede a bison herd, driving them over a cliff, so that the carcasses can be butchered and hauled back as food for the winter. But one beast turns and rushes his attackers, catching Keda on its horns and tossing him into the air. Knocked unconscious, Keda lands on a narrow ledge that is too steep for a rescue. When Keda regains consciousness, a flash flood enables him to swim to safety, only to be attacked by voracious wolves. After stabbing the leader of the pack, dubbed Alpha, Keda takes pity on the injured animal, nursing its wounds, and offering water. But after killing a rabbit for sustenance, Keda firmly establishes dominance, insisting, “You have to wait your turn.” Wandering through the vast wilderness, Keda and Alpha encounter many perils and predators, becoming co-dependent as they trek home through blizzards, relying on Keda’s hand tattoo of the Big Dipper constellation to point them in the right direction. A magnificently photographed survivalist adventure story charting the first bond between man and wolf (who would later become dog), director Albert Hughes’s Alpha is recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include the behind-the-scenes featurettes “Boy & Wolf” (5 min.) and “Meet the Wolf” (2 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are deleted scenes (9 min.), the production segments “Building the World” (8 min.) and “A Hero’s Journey” (5 min.), and a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a solid boy-and-his-wolf epic.] (S. Granger)
Alpha
Sony, 96 min., PG-13, DVD: $30.99, Blu-ray: $34.99, Nov. 13 Volume 33, Issue 6
Alpha
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