Review of Water for Elephants (2011) by Dawdlingpoet — 25 Nov 2021

This is a romantic drama film with a historical background (in that its set in the 1930s). Its quite an emotive watch, with Jacob coming across as a passionate fan of wildlife/animals. This he shares in common with Marlena, of course. If anything, its a little cheesily sentimental but not entirely in an unpleasant way.

Themes covered could be said to include acceptance, compassion and of course animal welfare, possessiveness. The plot pace is a bit slow but there was plenty in the way of scenery and animal interaction to keep me watching for the duration. I found muself feeling sorry for Jacob, having to see the circus manager use quite cruel tactics to control the animals. There isn't a great deal of violence but there are some scenes that made me flinch briefly. Of course I presume that no animals were harmed in the making of the film, as per the relevant legislation, although I don't doubt that such acts of unnecessary cruelty may have taken place at the time. I'd say that this film doesn't shy away from the more grim side of such travelling businesses, with one or two particularly sinister moments. While I liked Jacob as a main character in the most part, I felt that he did seem a bit naive, which was a bit put off-putting. There definitely is chemistry between Robert Pattinson and Reece Witherspoon, who plays his love interest, Marlena. Other casr members include Christoph Waltz as the manager, August, Paul Schneider, Jim Norton and Hal Holbrook as the elderly Jacob.

There is a certain predictability present but I can't help but feel like, for the most part, I enjoyed this film and I feel it'd be wrong to completely slate it. I feel like perhaps slightly younger viewers (teenagers and maybe those in their late teens or early 20s) may enjoy it a bit more than I did, although its hard to explain exactly why.

I was impressed by the camerawork, with some scenes showing circus acts featuring close to continual swapping between camera angles, giving it a more vibrant feel. I also liked the soundtrack, with some quite fun and hearty tunes at times and more dour ones at other times. It felt pretty atmospheric. Examples of tunes played during scenes include Button Up Your Overcoat by Lew Brown and Ray Henderson, Sheep Walk by Marc Durst, Smile Please by Robert Viger and South Side Shuffle by Keith Nichols.

As I say, there are some grim scenes in this film, with there being hints of domestic abuse present and also scenes involving cruelty to animals. There is some violence shown, although nothing too explicit or graphic, minus one particularly tense scene which could easily frighten young viewers. I noticed little in the way of strong language, although perhaps a few mild profanities were used but thats about all. In the plot, alcohol is mentioned as a way to subdue the elephant and prohibition is referred to, as alcohol was banned due to prohibition at the time. The film carries a 12 rating, in view of this.

As the film heads towards the end, it turns particularly dark. Its not uber-violent, uber-scary or anything like that but it is definitely emotional, quite cheesy, not an easy watch at times but not an awful one either. As an aside, I learnt that, apparently, male elephants are referred to as bulls. I had to check via Google, as I was quite confused by the elephant being referred to as a bull in various scenes. Oh well, they do say you learn something new every day(!).

I'm unsure if I'd especially recommend this. I find it hard to judge really, so I guess its up to yourself to decide if this sounds like something you'd like to see, or if you feel you may be too upset by depictions/scenes of implied animal cruelty, or alternatively if you can't stomach the slightly overdone elements of sentimentality present.