IMDb RATING
6.8/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
A snapshot of life in the jungles of Northern Siam.A snapshot of life in the jungles of Northern Siam.A snapshot of life in the jungles of Northern Siam.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
- Directors
- Writers
- Achmed Abdullah
- Merian C. Cooper(uncredited)
- Ernest B. Schoedsack(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe elephant stampede was actually achieved by making a miniature village and then having baby elephants run over it.
- Quotes
Title Card: [Opening title] Before the most ancient civilization arose, before the first city in the world was built, before man trod the earth - then, as now, there stretched across vast spaces of farther Asia a great green threatening mass of vegetation... the Jungle...
- Crazy creditsThe CAST: --- Natives of the Wild: who have never seen a motion picture. --- Wild Beasts: who have never had to fear a modern rifle. --- The Jungle.
- Alternate versionsMilestone Film and Video has issued a video with a music score by Bruce Gaston (copyrighted in 1991) and performed by Fong Naam. The running time is 69 minutes.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Movies Are Adventure (1948)
Featured review
Not a Dead Document
Thanks to those other reviewers for filling in the background to what is now an antique-- but no less fascinating-- oddity. The movie reflects a time period when enterprising (and intrepid) filmmakers like Cooper and Schoedsack were discovering the audience potential for semi-documentaries showing exotic peoples and locales.
Here it's an adventure in northern Siam (Thailand). The rough storyline follows a Laotian family and villagers as they compete against a fierce jungle for livelihood. As expected, scenes are filled with wild beasts and clambering natives. Some scenes are obvious pandering —the gamboling monkey, the cute baby; others are pure spectacle—the rampaging elephant herd, the marauding big cats. Of course, much of the animal spectacle-- though not the killing-- is familiar in our age of 24-hour cable TV. Still, seeing how the natives cope under primitive conditions remains fascinating.
A couple points, I think, are worth noting. Though the exact locale is not pin-pointed on a map, the location appears roughly within what has since become known notoriously as The Golden Triangle (northern convergence of Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam). Whatever its status in 1927, the Triangle has grown into one of the world's biggest sources of heroin-grade opium. I can't help wondering whether the advance of a money economy has since turned villagers like those of the movie into cash-crop farmers.
Also, the movie's theme writes confidently of the jungle's permanent presence. Eighty years later with new waves of extractive technology, and I wonder if that permanence is as assured now as it was then. Looks to me like the rainforests are under industrial siege and may well be losing their presence in the face of human advancement. A rather ironical turn of events.
Neither of these points is meant to detract from the overall excellence of the film. However, I don't think the movie should be viewed as a dead historical document. Instead, it can be used as an informative lens for looking at the age-old struggle between man and nature.
Here it's an adventure in northern Siam (Thailand). The rough storyline follows a Laotian family and villagers as they compete against a fierce jungle for livelihood. As expected, scenes are filled with wild beasts and clambering natives. Some scenes are obvious pandering —the gamboling monkey, the cute baby; others are pure spectacle—the rampaging elephant herd, the marauding big cats. Of course, much of the animal spectacle-- though not the killing-- is familiar in our age of 24-hour cable TV. Still, seeing how the natives cope under primitive conditions remains fascinating.
A couple points, I think, are worth noting. Though the exact locale is not pin-pointed on a map, the location appears roughly within what has since become known notoriously as The Golden Triangle (northern convergence of Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam). Whatever its status in 1927, the Triangle has grown into one of the world's biggest sources of heroin-grade opium. I can't help wondering whether the advance of a money economy has since turned villagers like those of the movie into cash-crop farmers.
Also, the movie's theme writes confidently of the jungle's permanent presence. Eighty years later with new waves of extractive technology, and I wonder if that permanence is as assured now as it was then. Looks to me like the rainforests are under industrial siege and may well be losing their presence in the face of human advancement. A rather ironical turn of events.
Neither of these points is meant to detract from the overall excellence of the film. However, I don't think the movie should be viewed as a dead historical document. Instead, it can be used as an informative lens for looking at the age-old struggle between man and nature.
helpful•61
- dougdoepke
- Feb 19, 2011
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Chang
- Filming locations
- Thailand(Jungles of Northern Siam)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $60 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 9 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness (1927) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer