87. When Lambs Become Lions; movie review

WHEN LAMBS BECOME LIONS
Cert 12A
76 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language
I would have to accept accusations of being akin to a broken record-player but I am desperate for documentary-makers to give their movies context.
Only a day after watching Midnight Family, Mrs W and I found similar frustrations with Jon Kasbe's When Lambs Become Lions.
The subject matter is intoxicating - I have even helped a client write articles about poaching for ivory which have appeared in the national press so I should have been on the same page.
However, the fly-on-the-wall style and Kasbe's angle of following a poacher as well as rangers threw me.
Obviously, he is highlighting the different sides of angst around the plummeting elephant population in Africa which has captured the attention of the world.
He also seems to be suggesting that government condemnation of the ivory trade amounts to easy words.
This is borne out by the rangers, who put their lives on the line to stop poachers, complaining that they haven't been paid in two months.
When one of their number is killed, they ask the inevitable question over the relative value of elephant life relative to human life.
Kasbe's film then goes a stage further by trying to understand the hunters who will risk death, arrest, and the moral outrage of the world to provide for their families.
His movie is set in the north Kenyan bush, where a small-time ivory dealer fights to stay on top while forces mobilise to destroy his trade.
He offers a deal to his younger cousin, a conflicted wildlife ranger whose wife is bitter over the lack of money coming through the door.
This is all interesting if a little perplexing as to why a poacher would agree to being filmed at all.
And then there is a finale which turns the whole movie on its head.
Or was I missing something? A narration would have led to much greater clarity and answered big questions.

Reasons to watch: A different angle on ivory poaching
Reasons to avoid: Quite hard to follow

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? An estimated 100 African elephants are killed each day by poachers seeking ivory, meat and body parts, leaving only 400,000 remaining. An insatiable lust for ivory products in the Asian market makes the illegal ivory trade extremely profitable and has led to the slaughter of tens of thousands of African elephants.

The final word. Jon Kasbe: "I wouldn’t say I ever got comfortable with it (hunts), but I definitely started to understand it better. I went on 10 hunts total and the first three, I didn’t have a camera on me. That was a part of getting access to these guys and building the relationship. They didn’t want me to take a camera out at first." Moveable Fest

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