The leader of a great Painted Wolf family is growing old. Her power to keep the peace is waning. A feud with an ambitious daughter threatens to bring the dynasty down.The leader of a great Painted Wolf family is growing old. Her power to keep the peace is waning. A feud with an ambitious daughter threatens to bring the dynasty down.The leader of a great Painted Wolf family is growing old. Her power to keep the peace is waning. A feud with an ambitious daughter threatens to bring the dynasty down.
Storyline
Did you know
- ConnectionsFeatured in Universum: Dynasties - Der Clan der Tiere: Afrikanische Wildhunde (2019)
Featured review
Brutal family rivalry
Every new project from the national treasure that is David Attenborough is always eagerly anticipated. Attenborough's popularity and acclaim is more than richly deserved, and when it comes to presenting and narrating any kind of documentary in my mind nobody is better than, even equals or in the same league. Have always learnt a lot from and been transfixed by his work, which is also so well made and quite a lot of it is ground-breaking.
'Dynasties' may not be quite among his best, but only because there are so many jewels in his filmography and to me there are also not a dud (something that is incredibly rare in celebrity filmographies). Picking a favourite has always been impossible. It is still an incredible series with all five episodes being equal in quality, with an interesting new approach with a tighter focus to exploring familiar animals and it is a long way from being any of the things that people feared it would be like before it even aired. In all five episodes, full attention is needed and it is attention that is fully warranted.
"Painted Wolf" is the episode containing the least familiar species/animals to many viewers, that was certainly the case with me, so some may think before watching that it will be the least interesting episode of 'Dynasties' and dismiss the painted wolves (or African wild dogs) as not being as interesting as the chimpanzees, penguins, lions and tigers, far more familiar and explored species in documentaries. Not so. While there is not a personal favourite 'Dynasties' episode because quality-wise the five are equal, "Painted Wolf" was one of the more interesting ones for me and actually because it was not familiar territory and one of the more tightly focused and intimate ones. The animals are every bit as rootable and some of the more upsetting and brutal scenes of the entire series is here.
As with the previous episodes, "Painted Wolf" looks amazing. The filming is not just glorious to look at and complements the beautiful yet appropriately unforgiving scenery adeptly, it is often remarkably cinematic and its intimacy enhances the more dramatic scenes. The music never came over as intrusive or inappropriate, that has been the case with some documentaries seen (and this is including a few of Attenborough's work here) but not here.
The way the information is presented is very thought-provoking and never felt like it rambled or over-speculated, as to be expected. once again feels like its own individual story rather than just an episode of a series, Attenborough documentaries always excelled at this aspect and did so in a way that did not compromise the facts. As with David in "Chimpanzee", Charm and Red in "Lion" and the penguins (and the behind the scenes crew) in "Emperor", it is very difficult to not root for Tait and the adversity needed to overcome, done in a way that's poignant and inspiring. The puppies are adorable but it's the brutality and emotion that sticks with one long after. There were distressing scenes in the previous episodes too, like with Red and the hyenas in "Lion", but this was the episode that had me looking away trying and failing to hold back shock and tears.
Not because of an individual scene but because of a truly vivid overall portrayal of this family rivalry. It really does not hold any punches and it is amazing that any of it was captured on film and so vividly and terrifyingly. This is also not a cutesy depiction of the painted wolves, just as much as the scenery being much more than just beautiful (with it also being as cruel an environment as the Antarctic in "Emperor"), like with the ambitious daughter quite a lot of it is actually uncompromising. A lot of information is covered but felt properly explored and not rushed or disjointed, and the facts educate and illuminate while not being compromised for the emotionally complex storytelling.
Once again, Attenborough delivers sincerely, enthusiastically as well as in an understated fashion, his voice as ever distinctive. One can listen to him for hours and not tire of him, no other nature/wildlife documentary narrator/presenter has made me feel this way.
Summarising, wonderful. 10/10 Bethany Cox
'Dynasties' may not be quite among his best, but only because there are so many jewels in his filmography and to me there are also not a dud (something that is incredibly rare in celebrity filmographies). Picking a favourite has always been impossible. It is still an incredible series with all five episodes being equal in quality, with an interesting new approach with a tighter focus to exploring familiar animals and it is a long way from being any of the things that people feared it would be like before it even aired. In all five episodes, full attention is needed and it is attention that is fully warranted.
"Painted Wolf" is the episode containing the least familiar species/animals to many viewers, that was certainly the case with me, so some may think before watching that it will be the least interesting episode of 'Dynasties' and dismiss the painted wolves (or African wild dogs) as not being as interesting as the chimpanzees, penguins, lions and tigers, far more familiar and explored species in documentaries. Not so. While there is not a personal favourite 'Dynasties' episode because quality-wise the five are equal, "Painted Wolf" was one of the more interesting ones for me and actually because it was not familiar territory and one of the more tightly focused and intimate ones. The animals are every bit as rootable and some of the more upsetting and brutal scenes of the entire series is here.
As with the previous episodes, "Painted Wolf" looks amazing. The filming is not just glorious to look at and complements the beautiful yet appropriately unforgiving scenery adeptly, it is often remarkably cinematic and its intimacy enhances the more dramatic scenes. The music never came over as intrusive or inappropriate, that has been the case with some documentaries seen (and this is including a few of Attenborough's work here) but not here.
The way the information is presented is very thought-provoking and never felt like it rambled or over-speculated, as to be expected. once again feels like its own individual story rather than just an episode of a series, Attenborough documentaries always excelled at this aspect and did so in a way that did not compromise the facts. As with David in "Chimpanzee", Charm and Red in "Lion" and the penguins (and the behind the scenes crew) in "Emperor", it is very difficult to not root for Tait and the adversity needed to overcome, done in a way that's poignant and inspiring. The puppies are adorable but it's the brutality and emotion that sticks with one long after. There were distressing scenes in the previous episodes too, like with Red and the hyenas in "Lion", but this was the episode that had me looking away trying and failing to hold back shock and tears.
Not because of an individual scene but because of a truly vivid overall portrayal of this family rivalry. It really does not hold any punches and it is amazing that any of it was captured on film and so vividly and terrifyingly. This is also not a cutesy depiction of the painted wolves, just as much as the scenery being much more than just beautiful (with it also being as cruel an environment as the Antarctic in "Emperor"), like with the ambitious daughter quite a lot of it is actually uncompromising. A lot of information is covered but felt properly explored and not rushed or disjointed, and the facts educate and illuminate while not being compromised for the emotionally complex storytelling.
Once again, Attenborough delivers sincerely, enthusiastically as well as in an understated fashion, his voice as ever distinctive. One can listen to him for hours and not tire of him, no other nature/wildlife documentary narrator/presenter has made me feel this way.
Summarising, wonderful. 10/10 Bethany Cox
helpful•71
- TheLittleSongbird
- Feb 11, 2019
Details
- Runtime49 minutes
- Color
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