June 23, 2023

I have a busy day today at the movie theater; in order to fit everything in to the schedule today, I had to make plans for the June Swoon 2. What I planned was to watch a short this morning. The short I decided on was on Netflix and had been the Academy Award winning short for Best Documentary short at this previous Oscar ceremony. It was called The Elephant Whisperers.

This doc took us to India where we meet an indigenous couple named Bomman and Bellie, who were able to raise two orphaned baby elephants. At first, they were given responsibility over a calf named Raghu, who was frail and sickly. Bomman and Bellie cared for the baby elephant and a bond grew between them. From the great success that they had shown with Raghu, the park rangers of the Mudumalai National Park entrusted them with a second baby elephant named Ammu.

Watching the interactions with the elephants and Bomman and Bellie was fascinating and beautiful. The couple truly treated the elephants as part of their family. Bellie spoke of the loss of one of her own children, a daughter, and how Raghu was able to comfort her, literally wiping away her tears. This was a poignant moment in the doc.

The doc showed the elephant kicking a soccer ball around, playing freely like any little kid might.

The imagery and picturesque shots of the park made The Elephant Whisperers even grander than it would have been. Director Kartiki Gonsalves made her film debut with this documentary, spending five years with the family of the Kattunayakan tribe.

The 41 minute short is a beautiful piece of art and shows a close relationship between humans and elephants. The film does a great job of showing the bond between them and the feelings shown by both human and animal.