The Last Lions (Beverly & Dereck Joubert, 2010): USA

Reviewed by Katharina Martin. Viewed at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2010.

Set in the deepest part of wild Africa, The Last Lions is a story that is filled with emotion that its audience can both sympathize and empathize with. The story begins with a family of lions, characterized by behaviors relative to those of the human race. It is centered around Mau Di Tau, a lone lioness who struggles against nature to defend her territory and her offspring. Beverly and Dereck Joubert flawlessly convey the affection felt between these lions through narration, sound, editing, and striking cinematography. As soon as the audience is immersed in this family’s story, they are taken through a whirlwind of vivid emotions and images that touch the heart of everyone. In this movie, The Jouberts successfully combine a linear narrative along with a nature showcase that dispatches a serious, attention-grabbing message.

Throughout the film, there is an array of beautiful and inventive cinematographic choices used to effectively tell Mau Di Tau’s story. Almost every single one of Dereck’s shots could be frozen, framed, and sold as fine photography. Not only was the imagery beautiful, but it was also accompanied by music and dialogue choices Beverly synthesized into the story very effectively. Upon listening to the couples commentary following the movie, even more appreciation and credit should be given to the obvious effort that was put into this film. Camping out in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, these two filmmakers not only devised clever ways to capture Mau Di Tau and her brood, but also to survive reasonably comfortably while living out on their own in the wild (with lions and elephants!). Listening to their story about making this film provides an insight into their relationship with these lions, and how they devised their methods for delving deep into Africa’s most intimate beauties.

Although creating this film was an obviously daunting task, Beverly and Dereck Joubert developed the majority of it entirelyy on their own. While they did have the help of National Geographic, the burden of production fell on them. They rose to the challenge admirably, with immaculate artistry being demonstrated on every level. Granted that the audience could not empathize with the making of this project, the struggles of Mau Di Tau were easy to sympathize with. Her story gives an opportunity to look at what is important according to innate instinct, and to then in turn reflect on the daily lives of the human race. What do human cultures hold valuable over everything else? Is it living to die for family and protect them despite the odds of success? What if human behavior back-tracked a couple of evolutionary thought processes, and started letting the Super Ego part of the mind explore innate benefits the Id may offer? What if, instead of fighting for what is desired, humans began fighting for what they are a part of? Maybe people would recognize that if they concentrated solely on the latter, they could potently have both. These are some internal questions that the Jouberts touch on with their story of Mau Di Tau and her encounters with Africa’s hardships. By producing stunning imagery, along with several messages that touch the heart and the mind, Beverly and Dereck Joubert have created both a memorable and time-honoring masterpiece.