Film Review: Great White Shark Legend by Ricardo and Rachel Lacombe
Reviewed by Jeff Goodman
One of the first things I ever do before starting a film or video is look at its overall length, just to prepare myself. The running time for this film was 1hr 34mins. I was slightly put off by this because that amount of time, to fill with a single, non-stop documentary, and keep an audience interested, is not an easy thing to do. Well, I must say that it did in fact keep me interested and watching right through to the end.
Great White Shark Legend is a well thought out and developed film. It is sensitively filmed and directed as well as being very informative and revelatory in both hard facts as well as emotional content.
The film opened with good cinematic graphics and sound, followed by an evocative image of Ricardo looking out to sea from the land to an emotive music score. The ensuing film was packed with excellent shark footage, land and seascape scenics and a host of intelligent and clear interviews.
Both Ricardo and Rachel narrate the film and it was refreshing to hear new enthusiastic voices on the screen. But, they do not dominate the verbal content of the film and give over much of the audio, in short sound bites, to the thoughts and experiences of those working close to and with the sharks.
If you are in the category of those who are afraid or just dislike sharks then I think this film will encourage you to re-evaluate your opinions.
It is a film that hunts down facts and true life experiences rather that short cutting to the more well used cheap sensationalism that haunts many other films about the Great White Shark.
There did come a point about an hour into the film where I thought that things being said in interviews were being repeated. I was just about to reach for the fast forward control when the pace of the film changed. Ricardo and Rachel switched to and talked with young kids who loved, understood and played in the sea. These youngsters were blessed with very mature philosophies on the importance of living with nature and giving the sharks their own space without persecution. They were really switched on and gave me great hope for the future of the natural world as well as mankind.
An excellent film and well worth 94 minutes of your time.
You can buy or rent Great White Shark Legend at www.greatwhitesharklegend.com.
