“The Ghost and the Darkness” ( English The Ghost and the Darkness ) - historical and adventure film by Stephen Hopkins , filmed in 1996. The film is based on a true story of cannibalistic lions , who in 1898 paralyzed the construction of a railway in the Tsavo River region . When creating the film, the information presented in the book of the real participant in these events, Colonel John Henry Patterson, was used .
| Ghost and Darkness | |
|---|---|
| The ghost and the darkness | |
 | |
| Genre | Thriller Adventure |
| Producer | Stephen Hopkins |
| Producer | |
| Author script | William Goldman |
| In the main cast | Val Kilmer Tom Wilkinson Michael Douglas |
| Operator | |
| Composer | |
| Duration | |
| Budget | $ 55 million [1] |
| Fees | $ 75,019,405 [2] |
| A country |  USA |
| Tongue | |
| Year | 1996 |
| IMDb | |
Story
The end of the XIX century . A young engineer, Patterson, receives a referral to build a bridge in Africa from a cynical, cool-headed leader, Bowman. Before the trip, the chief very bluntly declares that he does not give a damn about Patterson’s need to return to his wife and child on time, but if the colonel’s mission to build one of the best bridges in Tsavo (Kenya) fails, he will do everything to permanently ruin Patterson’s reputation . Patterson, who had dreamed of visiting Africa all his life, does not lose heart, but leaves his pregnant wife in England and comes to Tsavo. After a while, one of the workers is attacked by a lion, which Patterson personally kills from an ambush a little later.
Seven weeks later, night attacks begin, the first victim of which is the strongest worker Makhino, who once killed a cannibal lion with his bare hands. He and another resident are found the next morning. Lions begin a real hunt for workers, and Patterson, meanwhile, receives a joyful letter from his wife. At this time, the lion from an ambush rushes right into the crowd of workers, killing one of them on the edge of the camp. Samuel, Patterson and Starling chase the lion, but he manages to escape thanks to the attack of the second lion. Starling is killed.
Workers called the lions "Ghost and Darkness," considering them to be devils. Some of the victims with severe injuries and malaria are in the hospital under the supervision of Dr. Hawthorne. Construction of the bridge is delayed, and Patterson is forced to persuade workers to continue work. To kill the predators, they invite the famous hunter Remington, who hunts along with the Masai tribe. However, the hunt fails - Patterson's gun misfires. Masai leave, saying that they are not lions, but demons Ghost and Darkness.
The following night, the lions attack the camp, killing many people. Workers are fleeing in panic from Tsavo. Remington and Patterson find a cave of lions where piles of bones of their victims have accumulated - hunters understand that lions kill for pleasure. Soon they manage to kill one of the lions, but at night another predator comes and kills Remington. Patterson burns Remington’s body and lures a nearby lion, having managed to kill him too.
Real story
The film is based on a true story of cannibalistic lions that appeared out of nowhere during the construction of the railway between Kenya and Uganda in the late 19th century. One by one, the animals killed and devoured the workers. As a result, the construction of the railway was completely paralyzed: the workers refused to go to work - no one wanted to be eaten. Then Lieutenant Colonel John Patterson, responsible for the construction, went hunting for lions.
For a long time Patterson hunted down animals, and on December 9, 1898 he managed to kill one of the lions. They managed to track down and kill the second only after 20 days - December 29, while at least 10 bullets were planted in the second lion. The length of the killed cannibals was more than 3 meters, which is quite an impressive size for the lions living in Africa.
Later, in the course of studies of animals killed, it was revealed that they killed and ate people not because they liked it, but because of the drought in that area the main animals that feed on the lions - buffaloes, antelopes and others - disappeared. As a result, the animals did not have a choice - they either had to eat people or die of hunger.
Cast
- Michael Douglas - Remington
- Val Kilmer - John Henry Patterson
- John Caney - Samuel
- Bernard Hill - David Hawthorne
- Tom Wilkinson - Robert Beaumont
- Brian McCurdy - Angus Sterling
- Emily Mortimer - Helena Patterson
- Om Puri - Abdullah
- Henry Seal - Mahina
Masai was performed by representatives of the samburu’s kindred nation [3] .
Movie Makers
- Director - Stephen Hopkins
- Producer - Michael Douglas
- Screenwriter - William Goldman
Criticism and Awards
In 1997, the film received an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing . In the same year, Val Kilmer was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award as the worst supporting actor. On the Rotten Tomatoes website , the film has a rating of 50%.
Film critic Roger Ebert rated the film half-star of four, calling it "an African adventure that makes films about Tarzan perceive as subtle and realistic." [4]
Notes
- ↑ " Ghost and Darkness ” on the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ The Ghost and the Darkness (1996 ) . WorldwideBoxoffice . Date of appeal April 25, 2019.
- ↑ Kelly Askew. Striking Samburu and a Mad Cow: Adventures in Anthropollywood // Off Stage / On Display: Intimacy and Ethnography in the Age of Public Culture / Andrew Shryock (Editor). - Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2004 .-- P. 31-68. - 368 p. - ISBN 0804750076 . - ISBN 978-0804750073 .
- ↑ Roger Ebert. The Ghost And The Darkness . RogerEbert.com . Ebert Digital LLC (October 11, 1996). - Review. - ““ The Ghost and the Darkness ”is an African adventure that makes the Tarzan movies look subtle and realistic.” Date of treatment November 9, 2016.