In the wild, camouflage is a key component of survival, permitting creatures a chance to protect themselves using their natural skin or fur as defense against predators. For lions, sheer force is employed to help establish dominance, but their natural golden coloring assists in the routine of personal security, allowing the beasts to blend in with their surroundings, giving them an advantage in a land of continuous hunting. For the white lion, their bright appearance is akin to painting a target on their back, standing out like a snowball in a dry land, making them a particular curiosity in South Africa's wild bush country. How does a lion with ivory fur survive in a brutal land where concealment is a way of life? How could anything so obvious to the naked eye make it past life as a cub? The answers are both simple and complicated, representing the daily struggles of the lion itself, with its nonstop quest to find meals and protect its young. Of course, being born with such a radically different appearance has its advantages. However, for the purposes of this documentary, we're thousands of miles away from The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, where the uniqueness of the white lion has created a tourism boon. For "The White Lions," the setting is strictly the wild, detailing the life of these big cats as they battle to live.
Written and directed by Joe Kennedy and narrated by Toby Leonard Moore, "The White Lions" takes viewers into the great expanse of Kruger National Park, roughly twice the size of Yellowstone. Over 2,000 lions live within this sanctuary, most grouped off into various prides, while the rest live a more nomadic life. "The White Lions" focuses on a special group of big cats led by two sisters, Matimba ("The Powerful One") and Khanya ("The Pale One"), who live in a pride without the comfort of a male to help define their aggression and protect the perimeter. In the sisters' possession are five cubs, three retaining their traditional tawny appearance and two born white, gifted a rare gene that makes their fur a special sight. While there's no difference in treatment inside the pride, the production makes it perfectly clear the two white cubs have quite a journey ahead of them, born without a disguise to conceal their animal behaviors. Although, as viewed in the opening minutes of the documentary, the white lions rarely expose their natural fur, spending much of their day rolling around in the dirt, creating more of a muddy brown color to blend in with the rest of the pride. Despite some initial playtime filthiness, the cubs remain a specific target, requiring quick thinking and brave protection skills from the lionesses to carry their offspring to maturity.
Because of the erratic nature of the lions, Kennedy carefully manufactures drama for the inimitable pride as it endures a few years of seasonal changes. "The White Lions" is almost a reality show in some respects, though this is the way of nature documentaries, forced to build something dramatic out of long hours filming lions lounging and observing. To help goose the suspense, Kennedy uses random appearances from the Three Nomads, pride-less male lions who roam the Kruger scrapping for meals. To the males, the cubs represent a tasty snack, monitoring Matimba and Khanya as they caravan across the savanna, eager to swoop in and steal their young. For the purposes of entertainment, it's a compelling element of antagonism, with the Three Nomads repeatedly dropping in to panic the sisters, establishing lioness selflessness while reinforcing the relentless threat facing the cubs, who stick close to their mothers, learning how to hunt and process danger from all sides. Adding to the community mood are hyenas (always around to scoop up the remnants of a fresh kill), giraffes, elephants, and water buffalo, the latter being a particularly delicious feast for the lions, though these creatures do not go quietly. One scene features a team of lions attempting to devour a water buffalo calf, only to face an angry community teaming up to retrieve one of their young. While the story doesn't have a happy ending, the show of force is fascinating, with the water buffalo showing remarkable bravery against an intimidating foe.
While "The White Lions" isn't a gentle documentary, the final act turns to heartbreak as one of the tawny cubs faces a mortal wound at the hands of the Three Nomads. It's a Circle of Life moment treated with unexpected severity, detailing the final breaths of life from the cub and the mourning process of the pride, leaving the viewer with a chilling sequence of loss. Certainly, this material should be included to supply a feel of nature's way, but those intending to watch the program with smaller children should be aware that "The White Lions" doesn't shy away from death. In fact, it lingers on it to make a salient point on the bond of the pride and the hostility of the land (post death brevity with the mating rituals of the Red-Crested Korhaan bird doesn't ease the mood). Numerous scenes of hunting are included as well, yet those striking moments of killing are edited with an action-movie blur, endeavoring to cover as much of the bloodletting as possible, hurdling the gore to cut straight to the internal organ munching. It's strange to watch Kennedy construct such essential moments, especially when the rest of the documentary assumes a more relaxed position of analysis, with several important developments in the cubs' life displayed with a natural escalation.
The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation maintains a crisp HD examination of the creatures and the Kruger, providing a clear view of the animals in action. Fine detail is good for such a documentary, with a satisfactory read of fur and entrails to bring concerns and kills to the home audience. The park also retains decent textures, also bringing healthy color to the screen, with the seasons captured in stable, expressive hues, bringing needed contrast to the landscape. Shadow detail is generally acceptable, with much of the action photographed during the daylight, allowing study of distances and dense fur. A minor amount of macroblocking is detected, along with some banding issues.
The 5.1 Dolby Digital sound mix is extremely basic in design, holding narration up front to keep the story clearly understood. Moore's voice is deep and meaningful, with crisp explanations of animal activity, nicely balanced with scoring needs. Music tends to be the only element venturing out into the surrounds, providing the picture with the occasional African choral lift, while a few atmospherics creep around in a circular fashion. Low-end is nonexistent. The track doesn't carry much demonstrative power, but it does retain clarity and lacks distortion, making the listening experience comfortable.
The seasons change rapidly in "The White Lions," finding Kennedy flipping through the months in a hurry to spotlight the surprising well-being of the cubs, who grow confidently into powerful females, joining the hunt alongside Matimba and Khanya. The leaps in time keep the documentary fairly disorienting, skipping huge chunks of life, yet the primary feel for the animal experience remains, albeit in rushed form. More atmospheric than educational, "The White Lions" builds a satisfactory position of observation, using storytelling tools to bring the viewer into the conflicts of the pride in a more intimate manner. It doesn't always feel organic, but it remains compelling.
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