Review of Brother Bear (2003) by Sarah K — 10 Sep 2009

I loved this movie! It started with 3 brothers the youngest of them was about to receive his totem at his manhood ceremony. He was very excited about becoming a man and getting his totem, but when he got it his totem to live by was the bear of love which he was not pleased with, he said "bears don't even love or think". His oldest brother had received guidance and the other one was wisdom. When they returned; a bear had eaten their fish and taken their basket so the youngest brother went after the bear to retrieve it. The two older brothers went after the boy to assist because they knew dealing with a bear is dangerous. In the process of trying to save his younger brothers the oldest dies. The people held a ceremony for the deceased brother and the youngest brother began to question their traditions and his faith in the spirits, so he goes off to search for the bear. He finds it and kills it and then he sees his brothers spirit come out of the sky. Then all of a sudden his brothers spirit turns him into a bear to teach him a lesson.The boy, while in the form of the bear, meets a bear cub who has lost his mother and wants to hang around with him for protection. The boy learns that bears do love and think and in the end he chooses to remain a bear because the cub needs him. In the end the lesson taught was that love is very powerful and a boy became a man by becoming a bear.

This movie relates to world religions by having a storyteller in the beginning. This movie also shows sacred rituals, like the manhood ceremonies, the totem they receive from the spirits, gathering for the death of the oldest brother. This movie continuously talks about the spirits or unseen powers playing a large role in their lives. The also show early artwork on cave walls.