Los Angeles Film Festival- Movie Review: One Lucky Elephant

Perry Chen with One Lucky Elephant filmmakers and panelists@ LAFF premiere, June 19, 2010 (photo by Zhu Shen)

Perry Chen interviewing director Lisa Leeman One Lucky Elephant (photo by Zhu Shen)

Perry interviews producer Cristina Colissimo (photo by Carol Marshall)

Perry Chen making tin-foiled Flora for producer Cristina Colissimo (photo by Zhu Shen)

(4 out of 5 starfish)

by Perry S. Chen

Have you ever seen circus elephants doing tricks like standing on their hind legs or even a tiny ball? They perform and entertain vast audiences, but can’t perform forever. What happens to them when they retire?

After a long history of being adored by fans in the circus, Flora, an African elephant, and her trainer David Balding have to move on and find a new home for the pachyderm in a difficult journey. Flora, along with many other elephants in zoos, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which makes them turn their anger on people.

Flora’s mother was killed in front of her eyes when she was a young calf. Flora was chained to her mother’s corpse and then taken away. No wonder she is so stressful and angry at us!

I was excited to see “One Lucky Elephant” red carpet world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival (www.lafilmfest.com) on June 19 at Regal Theatre to a sold-out crowd. I was thrilled to be invited to ask the last question during the post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers, moderated by Charles Siebert, acclaimed New York Times journalist and author of An Elephant Crack Up, with guests Ron Kagan (Director, Detroit Zoo), Dr. Toni Frohoff (behavioral and wildlife biologist), Laura Balding (Equestrian Advisor and David Balding’s wife), and filmmakers Lisa Leeman (director) and Cristina Colissimo (producer and co-founder of Ahali Elephants).

My question was “Why are humans so ignorant of animals’ feelings and emotions?” Dr. Toni Frohoff said, “That’s a perfect question to leave us with. It’s very intelligently stated. I can’t answer that question. I hope that people of your generation can help us figure that out because we have a long way to go.”

I had the opportunity to interview director Leeman and producer Colissimo again after the screening (stay tuned for my video interviews). Towards the end of the film, David Balding’s health has declined significantly. He was longing to visit Flora again who was under the care of an elephant sanctuary far away for years. The audience was divided on if David should be allowed to visit Flora. I asked the filmmakers about their opinion. “I think it would probably be a good idea for David to see Flora,” said producer Colissimo, “I think it should be done in a way that Flora can decide if she wants to see David, and be allowed to walk away if she is not interested.” I think that’s a brilliant idea. Mom and I hope David can visit Flora at least once before it is too late.

I asked what kids can do to help with elephant conservation. “Kids can do a lot to let their representatives (senators, President, etc.) know that we don’t need to kill elephants for their ivory,” commented producer Colissimo. “In Chinese, ivory means elephant teeth. Elephant teeth should stay with elephants.” She doesn’t think that elephants or many other animals should be kept in captivity at the zoo, even though she grew up with her father working at the Detroit Zoo. “I believe animals should be in their natural habitat. For those who lost their natural habitat, we should rebuild it for them.” I couldn’t agree more.

For director Leeman, her favorite part of making the film was to hang out with elephants. She said that I knew more about elephants than when she started making this film. Her favorite animal used to be horses, but now it is elephants after making this movie. “After making this movie, I treat my cat differently,” said director Leeman. “Instead of the dominance training used by circus trainers, I invite my cat to do things now. I don’t tell her what to do.”

Director Leeman met the producer through a mutual friend, the composer who worked at David Balding’s Circus Flora and who thought this would make a great film when she learned that Flora was retiring from the circus. It took them ten years to make this film, which was the most challenging part of working on this film. The filmmakers hope to reach a worldwide audience of kids and families and let them know that elephants don’t belong to zoos.

I give this film 4 starfish. It has an interesting and moving story to tell. I learned a lot about how we need to consider the welfare of animals instead of our own. It made me think about the purpose of the zoo and if we should keep a lot of animals in the zoo just for our own enjoyment.

Only one month ago, I visited the Elephant Odyssey in the San Diego Zoo. I was amazed by the birds, the sloths, the jaguars, and even lions at the exhibit. But it was the elephants that amazed me the most. Under the zookeepers’ extensive care, the elephants were healthy and strong.

Sadly, not all zoos can provide such good care and a large enclosure for their pachyderms to roam around as they can in the San Diego Zoo. Most zoos can give the elephants no more than a jail cell like place.

We humans are selfish creatures and caused much damage to our ecosystem, and we should change that.

Elephants are born to be free. Let them roam free in the wild where they belong!

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At 10 years old, Perry Chen is the youngest award-winning entertainment/film critic, radio talk show host, and TV personality, reviewing movies with his unique, kids-friendly starfish rating system on a multi-media platform on TV, radio, print, and web.

Perry became a national sensation after his debut on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, and was a popular hit on NPR with host Liane Hansen. He has been extensively featured on regional, national and international media.

Perry was the first child film critic invited to present at the prestigious Annie Awards for animation, the youngest blogger on Animation World Network (AWN), the youngest member of Asian American Journalist Association (AAJA), and San Diego Press Club, and the youngest honoree of Cox Communications’ annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

Perry has become an authoritative spokesperson for his generation about movies with his insight and humor from a child’s perspective, and focus on combining entertainment and education for children.

Perry is also an award-winning artist, filmmaker and animator, partnering with Oscar-nominee Bill Plympton to create a new animation short about the Holocaust, “Beyond the Forest,” told through the eyes of a child survivor.

Perry’s Previews webseries is slated to launch in the summer of 2010.

Perry reviews films on a starfish rating system, 5 being the best. His reviews are available on his website: www.perryspreviews.com.

Watch his videos on www.youtube.com/perryspreviews

Listen to his radio show on www.wsRadio.com/perry

Read his press releases http://pressroom.prlog.org/PerrysPreviews/

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