There’s a pleasant, old-fashioned feel to “Alpha.” It plays like one of those Disneynature movies with sharper edges, a bit more grime and a complete lack of the English language. Keda becomes more like an alpha wolf, and Alpha turns into a lupine Rin-Tin-Tin. Slowly, the duo start to trust one another. The alpha wolf of the pack is left for dead after Keda injures it, and rather than act out of vengeance, he decides to nurse the wolf back to health. While splinting the gruesome injury that resulted from his cliff adventure, Keda is hunted by wolves who find wounded prey especially tasty.
Keda’s inability to kill works out well for the wolf in this story. There are more scenes like this in “Alpha,” moments where faith and suspension of disbelief are the only things that will carry you through, but the pacing is swift enough to ward off too much contemplation before the next danger befalls our heroes.
Indeed, Keda’s situation seems hopeless-an attempt to climb in either direction means almost certain death-but screenwriter Daniele Sebastian Wiedenhaupt finds a way out that’s both gleefully unpredictable and absolutely preposterous. The cliffside ledge where Keda lands is too far for Tau to reach, so he has no choice but to mourn his son and move on. Director Albert Hughes and his editor Sandra Granovsky employ a nice flurry of quick cuts from the opening hunting sequence to bring us back to Keda’s seemingly fatal plunge. We also learn some of the tribe’s rituals that will become important pieces of shorthand later. In a quiet moment during the flashback, Tau tells Keda about the alpha wolf, the animal who leads the pack and to whom the other wolves defer. We assume Keda’s fall is part of the climax, but it’s actually the catalyst that sets the story in motion. “You must earn it!” During the hunt, which is the first of many well-staged and visually arresting set pieces, Keda’s hesitation allows him to be bested by his prey the result sends him plummeting over a steep cliff.Īs Keda falls, “Alpha” suddenly flashes back to a week before. “Life is for the strong!” his father lectures after Keda fails to finish off a wounded animal. Greatness is expected of Keda, yet he’s a sensitive lad who has a problem with killing the animals.
He is the son of Tau ( Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson), the “alpha” of his people. The boy, Keda ( Kodi Smit-McPhee) is first seen bison hunting with his tribe. 5 decision.īlatt, who has seen the film, said that Zonen’s involvement in “Alpha Dog” gives the public a slanted view of what happened.But let’s play the hand we’re dealt here. Zonen’s “actions allowed ‘show business’ to cast an unseemly shadow over this case,” Presiding Judge Arthur Gilbert wrote in the court’s Oct.
He also served as an unpaid consultant on the film. In October, the 2nd District Court of Appeal ordered Zonen removed from the case because he shared probation reports, police files and other materials with “Alpha Dog” producers. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and could face the death penalty if convicted.Īlso pending is a decision by the California Supreme Court, which could reverse a lower court’s ruling to remove Santa Barbara County Senior Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen from handling Hollywood’s trial. Hollywood fled after being charged with murder and was captured in Brazil in 2005. Four others have been convicted in connection with the murder. Markowitz was killed as part of a feud Hollywood had with the victim’s older half brother over a $1,200 drug debt, prosecutors said. ‘Alpha Dog’ film faces off-screen drama – East Bay Times