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Roar (Noel Marshall, 1981) - This is that rare film where you simply cannot disassociate the "movie" from the backstory (the backstory literally being the movie you see unfold on-screen).
Well-intentioned beliefs and actions do not offset the naivete and irresponsibility on display here. The "narrative" was literally a thinly-veiled representation of real-life events (this lunatic family actually did live, eat, sleep and cohabitate with close to 150 very large cats (lions, tigers, panthers, cheetahs, jaguars) in a relatively confined area. Thinking that they could make a "statement" film on the plight of these creatures by bringing in a large film crew to spend several years making the ultimate misguided vanity film was the absolute ultimate in folly, inexcusably irresponsible (putting so many people's lives at risk, most of all his own family), and yet...it's all (oft-times brilliantly) recorded for an astonished, slack-jawed world to see. And as an incredible close-up document of those magnificent creatures, along with an incredibly lucky family that somehow managed to not be eaten alive, this accidental stunner of a film is hypnotic, mesmerizing, and compelling to a degree that will certainly never ever be recreated.
It's to Tippi Hedren's credit that she continues to run and maintain Shambala, the wildlife preserve north of Los Angeles that is home to her menagerie of big cats and other various and sundry African wildlife. Now I'm itching to read her book, The Cats of Shambala, which detailed the entire ill-fated and catastrophe-plagued 11 year production of Roar, which endured flooding, a major fire, and injuries suffered at the claws and teeth of the film's "stars" to 70 cast and crew members.
It's absolutely amazing that no one was killed while shooting the film.
Well-intentioned beliefs and actions do not offset the naivete and irresponsibility on display here. The "narrative" was literally a thinly-veiled representation of real-life events (this lunatic family actually did live, eat, sleep and cohabitate with close to 150 very large cats (lions, tigers, panthers, cheetahs, jaguars) in a relatively confined area. Thinking that they could make a "statement" film on the plight of these creatures by bringing in a large film crew to spend several years making the ultimate misguided vanity film was the absolute ultimate in folly, inexcusably irresponsible (putting so many people's lives at risk, most of all his own family), and yet...it's all (oft-times brilliantly) recorded for an astonished, slack-jawed world to see. And as an incredible close-up document of those magnificent creatures, along with an incredibly lucky family that somehow managed to not be eaten alive, this accidental stunner of a film is hypnotic, mesmerizing, and compelling to a degree that will certainly never ever be recreated.
With fangs bared and claws extended, the must-be-seen-to-be-believed 1981 film Roar plays like a trippy episode of Wild Kingdom gone wrong, a nerve-racking experience fraught with the possibility of a casual mauling or deadly pounce from start to finish. It may be one of the most fucked-up movies you'll ever see.
The film is a Screen Actors Guild nightmare. The performers don't so much act in the film as they survive it. Most of the time, the cast is avoiding a lion, hiding from a lion, running from a lion, getting knocked down by a lion, or praying not to be eaten alive by a lion. In one scene, a prostrate and helpless Melanie Griffith lies amidst the shambles of the house with a huge lioness atop her, the creature's jaws nearly framing her face. To the actress' credit, she appears calm, which is either a testament to her acting craft or her resignation to fate. The incident required 50 stitches and some cosmetic plastic surgery. Other actors in the film suffered much, much worse injuries. The blood on Noel Marshall's hands in Roar is both literal and figurative.
The film is a Screen Actors Guild nightmare. The performers don't so much act in the film as they survive it. Most of the time, the cast is avoiding a lion, hiding from a lion, running from a lion, getting knocked down by a lion, or praying not to be eaten alive by a lion. In one scene, a prostrate and helpless Melanie Griffith lies amidst the shambles of the house with a huge lioness atop her, the creature's jaws nearly framing her face. To the actress' credit, she appears calm, which is either a testament to her acting craft or her resignation to fate. The incident required 50 stitches and some cosmetic plastic surgery. Other actors in the film suffered much, much worse injuries. The blood on Noel Marshall's hands in Roar is both literal and figurative.
It's absolutely amazing that no one was killed while shooting the film.
Ultimately, it is besides the point to talk about Roar in terms of being good or bad. It completely breaks the scale since the conditions under which it was made were so extreme. What it is, and thus what it should be considered as, is a 90-minute death-defying stunt, the ne plus ultra of misguided passion projects. It takes a very specific and very potent brand of lunacy, often one driven by noble ends, to sink 11 years and $17 million into a project like this, which Marshall did. The end result, while a modestly successful piece of fiction, is the apotheosis of irresponsible filmmaking, made doubly incredible by the fact that everyone who was involved, including the director's own flesh and blood, agreed to be so. It has been said before, but it bears repeating, it is nothing short of a miracle that no one got killed during the making of this film. It truly must be seen, not only to be believed, but just to even be conceived.
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