THE JUNGLE BOOK: A Filmic Necessity

Film is the art of light. Paradoxically,  light is that is the ultimate source required for life to exist, and is the greatest substance to cause horrific calamities. Fire was both a blessing and a curse for ancient civilizations to understand and attempt to harness, but it was quite often their undoing.

The coming-of-age story is basically every single story ever told. From The Odyssey to Moby Dick to Harry Potter, the main protagonists always start off from a place of ignorant understanding about the nature of things, and as their adventures or trials happen their minds expand and transform alongside the worlds around them. The transition of a person into another type, including physical changes, can be seen as an enlightening rite of passage that once traversed, or conquered, yields a more fulfilling and meaningful existence. Not necessarily for the characters inside the tale, but for the voyeuristic individuals who are watching the story at a distance from the outside.

The dualistic issue of enlightenment and growing up are the focal points of director Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book. The movie is a “live action” remake of the classic 1967 animated film by Disney. Both versions compiled Rudyard Kipling’s short stories into a single thread, and they both inhabit the wild side of artistic prowess and portray the dichotomy of acquiring knowledge.

Welcome To The Jungle

Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is an orphaned boy who was raised by a pack of wolves. The kind-hearted panther, Bagheera (Ben Kingsley), rescued him when he was barely a toddler, and as a growing child, Mowgli comes to his first major crossroads in life. After the nefarious tiger, Shere Khan (Idris Elba), threatens to kill Mowgli because humankind is forbidden in the jungle, it’s up to Mowgli to decide whether he should stay in the forest like a mangy animal, or return to his own in a nearby village. Thusly, Mowgli sets off on a fertile adventure down a path that leads to adulthood.

The Jungle Book works wonders with the technology that was used to bring it to life. It’s almost an entirely CGI movie save for Mowgli. Think of Avatar and that’s basically the same concept, but instead of the actors playing 9-foot-tall blue monkey people, they’re performances are transferred into hyperreal animals. The computer generated images in this movie are otherworldly, and the volume of work is undeniable. At times it is jaw-dropping and baffling to behold. At other times the performances, the key-frame animation, and the virtual landscapes are seamlessly blended together in a shot so well that you forget you’re watching an animated movie, and believe it’s just some kid hanging out with his animal pals.

As amazing and inspirational as Shere Khan and Bagheera are, they are nothing compared to Baloo (Bill Murray) and King Louie (Christopher Walken). Walken and Murray’s characterization are astoundingly mesmerizing and should be seen by everyone. Baloo is a perfect transfiguration of Murray’s movements and nuances, and it’s kind of frightening how impeccable the digital teams pull if off. But nobody stands out from the crowd like King Louie.

The fur and the skin of King Louie are tangible, never once rendered wrong or lit poorly. The CG teams also get Walken’s little facial expressions and gait perfectly, and they get to take his character further. Because King Louie is an antagonist he is all the more memorable (because villains always get the best lines). An added bonus is that both Baloo and King Louie are the only two characters who sing in the movie. They are silver screen dynamite, these two anthropomorphic individuals.

But for every bright spot in the cast there is a long shadow and that is, unfortunately, Sethi. Not that he is as bad or of the Jake Lloyd variety from The Phantom Menace, but he is often an irritating anklebiter. It’s hard to get decent-to-great child actors. Of all the 2000-plus auditions for this movie, it’s hard to fathom how bad all those other kids must’ve been to not get cast in the lead role. Guess they really failed to spark the camera. Lastly, Scarlett Johansson is in the movie but her character and time are so moot that it’s almost forgettable.

Flower Power

If there is one big downside to this Jungle Book it is the denouement. There is a far more rewarding yet painful end in the ’67 version. Not that all movies and remakes should be the same, mind you, but by the end the of the hand-drawn feature the choices that Mowgli makes make for a better and more fitting conclusion. The climax of the Favreau version results in a nice and happy ending. At least it isn’t sappy or corny, and is basically a set-up for the inevitable sequel, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have had a fair amount of melancholy. Growing up isn’t the nicest or easiest time had, but it is absolutely essential. And it is here that Favreau drops the artistic functionality with imagery, subtext and narrative execution.

Though the film doesnt’ have a serious ending and shades of regret, there is symbolic and literal passing of the torch. In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and brought it down to humanity. In esoteric and mystical practices, Prometheus is considered to be the great illumination who changes the world by giving it real and symbolic means of reconstruction. The handing off of the torch comes into play during the climax of The Jungle Book, and its trail starts to burn the jungle down. This calls to mind great films and literary works like Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness. The mind expands the further one goes into the jungle and the deeper in the more entrancing it is, and must be brought down in order for radical change.

King Louie specifically is after fire, what he calls “man’s red flower.” There is a doubling of meanings in this term. Red flower refers to fire and enlightenment, as both the material element and mental and spiritual growth, and flowering infers the budding change of adolescence which is about to happen to Mowgli. It is also fascinating to think that King Louie is a gigantic ape, as apes were the predecessor of the current human body. If one had the time they could make the many connections between this movie and 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is the ultimate coming-of-age film that is centered around the effects of light.

After all, film, as they say, is the art of refraction and the modern equivalent to Prometheus showcasing luminescence.

Summation

The Jungle Book encompasses vivid illustrations of archetypal stories, and manages to be accessible and pleasurable for children of all ages. Gorgeously imagined and charismatically accompanied by a slew of delightful talking animals, The Jungle Book is one for the ages to marvel at.

The Jungle Book has already made a killing at the box office. Do you think it has the legs to reach the coveted $1 billion mark?

The Jungle Book is out in cinemas in the UK and USA. Find international release dates here.