L'ours

(The Bear)
by Jean-Jacques Annaud
94’, France, USA, 1988

Set in the British Columbia of 1885, this story was fi lmed in the Dolomites, in the San Lucano and Primiero valleys. It tells of the little bear Youk who, while still a cub, sees his mother killed in a landslide while trying to procure honey for herself and her baby. Now orphaned, Youk is adopted by a big male grizzly, Kaar, who even if gruff  and solitary, becomes an affectionate father and teacher of life’s ways. Running from some hunters, Kaar is injured and then pursued by a pack of ferocious dogs, while little Youk is captured. Kaar succeeds in surprising an unarmed hunter, but then backs off  and limits himself to just frightening the man. Th e hunter repays Kaar by releasing Youk and preventing his companion from fi ring again at the bears. Even a puma will attempt to threaten the life of the cub, but once again the great grizzly saves him. With the fi rst snowfall, which announces the arrival of winter, the two bears prepare for hibernation in a cave.

Jean-Jacques Annaud
Born in Juvisy-sur-Orge in 1943, after studying literature and cinematography in Paris, he began a brilliant career in the 1970s as the director of advertising spots. With his first fi,m Black and White in Colour, he won an Oscar for the Best Foreign Film in 1977, which launched his career as one of the most highly-awarded and esteemed directors in French cinema.