Review of Brother Bear (2003) by Emmanuel S — 13 Apr 2013

The film is set in North America in a time that looks almost as if around the same time as the ice age. In the beginning, we meet Kenai and his older brothers Denahi and Sitka. Kenai is about to attend a ceremony in which he will receive his sacred totem, representative of what he must accomplish in order to become a man. However, when the shaman reveals that his totem will be the bear of love, Kenai is very disappointed. He feels that his totem is not representative of himself because he sees bears as thieves.

When they return to camp to find that a bear has stolen their fish, Kenai feels like his point has been proven. When Kenai sets out to find more fish for his tribe, he crosses paths with the bear and starts a fight with it. When his brothers see that Kenai is in trouble they, come to help him. During the battle, Sitka realizes that in order to save his brothers' lives, he must sacrifice his own.

Enraged about his brother's death, Kenai decides to seek revenge on the bear. Denahi warns him to let it be so that he will not upset the Spirits. However, Kenai does not listen and peruses the bear anyways. When he finds and kills the bear The Spirits and the spirit of Sitka turn Kenai into a bear in order to teach him a lesson. Once the transformation is complete, Denahi appears and believes the bear he sees killed his young brother and seeks revenge on him.

The remainder of the movie follows Kenai and an abandoned bear cub he meets along the way. Kenai learns from his tribe's shaman that he must journey to wear the aurora lights meet the hills and that it where he will meet Sitka. He takes the bear cub, Koda, with him on his journey and the two develop a strong bond. Along his journey Kenai learns the fears and troubles of being a bear constantly hunted. When Kenai is finally reunited with the spirit of his brother, he is transformed back into a man. Realizing that Koda needs him, Kenai decides to have his brother transform him back into a bear so he can live out his life with the other bears taking care of Koda. Through this selfless, loving act, Kenai is now considered a man to his tribe.

The movie follows very closely to indigenous religions. With most indigenous religions they believe that everything is alive and has a spirit. They do not believe in killing anything without purpose. Furthermore, if a person does need to kill an animal for food or supplies, he is to pray to the Spirits and thank them before doing so. This is why it upset the Spirits for Kenai to kill the bear out of spite. The movie also related well to the rites of becoming a man in indigenous religion.