Heart of the Beast

There are movies that make you jump out of your seat, and then there are movies that make you sit very still, your shoulders slowly tightening, waiting for something terrible to happen. Heart of the Beast belongs to the latter category. Brad Pitt leads this affecting survival drama in which the bond between a retired soldier and his service dog becomes the heart of the story. Director David Ayer’s film is remarkably spare. There is very little dialogue, few characters and, for long stretches, just Brad Pitt and Odin, a German Shepherd, navigating an unforgiving wilderness. Yet the film rarely feels empty. Its silences become part of the storytelling, allowing the landscape, the sounds of the forest, Jared Michael Fry’s evocative score and the two central performances to carry the weight.

A story about a man and a dog—that one line is enough for suckers like me to get excited about a film, and David Ayer’s Heart of the Beast doesn’t disappoint. Ayer is known for his action films (The Beekeeper, Fury, Suicide Squad), and even though the human protagonist is a retired army man, this film is really about the bond between him and his dog.

My five minutes of joy — and, more importantly, of peace — are when I lay my head on my furry baby’s stomach and talk her through my day. The highs, the lows, the mundane and the momentous… I talk to her about everything. She responds with a few grunts (if I am lucky), but I am mostly greeted with an unstifled yawn. But her eyes tell me she understands. That she shares and cares. That alone is enough to help me power through yet another day.

A man and his dog walk across 58 miles of Alaskan wilderness, fighting a heart attack, plane crash, injury, bears, wolves, drowning. David Ayer and Brad Pitt collaborate for the second time, after Fury, for this unlikely film about a bond between a retired US Special Forces Sergeant Major and his combat scout dog. A bond that has been forged during one of those indistinguishable and bloody tours of duty that America keeps rushing into. The PTSD that follows afflicts not just James (Pitt) but also Odin, and the two are spending time now in a part of Alaska that is even more isolated than the rest of it. They have no company but each other — barring a visit by a mysterious retired gold miner played gamely by Simmons.

इंसान और डॉगी के प्यारे रिश्ते पर हाल ही में आई बॉलीवुड फिल्म ‘ओह माय डॉग’ के बाद अब हॉलीवुड स्टार ब्रैड पिट भी अपनी नई फिल्म ‘हार्ट ऑफ द बीस्ट’ में इस रिश्ते की एक भावनात्मक कहानी लेकर आए हैं। एक बर्फीले और वीरान जंगल के बीच फंसे दो साथियों, जिनमें एक इंसान और दूसरा बेजुबान चौपाया, अपनी जिंदगी बचाने की जद्दोजहद करते हैं। लेकिन इस सर्वाइवल ड्रामा की जान इन दोनों की दोस्ती, प्यार और वफादारी में है। कहानी सेना के स्पेशल फोर्सेज के रिटायर मेजर जेम्स बेलमोंट (ब्रैड पिट) और उनके बेहद करीबी रिटायर्ड कॉम्बैट जर्मन शेफर्ड ओडिन (ऊबर) की है। युद्ध की डरावनी यादों से पीछा छुड़ाने के लिए जेम्स अपने साथी ओडिन के साथ अलास्का के बर्फीले जंगलों में वक्त बिताने पहुंचता है, लेकिन खराब मौसम के बीच प्लेन उड़ाते वक्त उसे दिल का दौरा पड़ जाता है। उसका जहाज दुर्घटनाग्रस्त हो जाता है। इस हादसे में जेम्‍स और ओडिन जैसे-तैसे बच तो जाते हैं, लेकिन वहां से बर्फीले और वीरान जंगल से सुरक्षित बाहर निकलने के लिए उन्हें भीषण ठंड, भूख-प्यास, जंगली जानवरों, जानलेवा खाई, दलदल जैसे खतरों से लड़कर 58 मील लंबी यात्रा तय करनी है। अब ये दोनों इस खौफनाक चुनौती से कैसे निबटते हैं, यह देखने लायक है।

David Ayer last directed Brad Pitt in Fury (2014), a moody, muddy drama about a WWII tank commander and his wearying crew. Despite the excellent cast — imagine riding along killing Nazis with Michael Peña, Shia LaBeouf and Jon Bernthal — it was nobody’s idea of a buddy adventure. Prospects are sunnier in Ayer’s latest film, Heart of the Beast, which cuts back on human players and pairs a 62-year-old Pitt with a dog. Not just any dog, mind you, but a ferocious US Special Forces canine. He’s played by a swarthy German Shepherd named Uber, and there are lovely shots of Pitt massaging his fingers on the beast’s hair. An alternative title for the film could be Furry.

Can a German Shepherd out-act Brad Pitt? David Ayer’s survival thriller Heart of the Beast treats that as an open contest. Pitt plays James Belmont, a retired Special Forces veteran stranded in the Alaskan wild with Odin (Uber), his beloved combat dog. After their seaplane goes down, they have one job: cover 58 miles to a road before the land, the weather and their shared ghosts close in. The film’s real wager is simpler than the trek. Who owns the story: the global superstar, or the dog who never learned to miss a mark? Minutes into Heart of the Beast, Mauro Fiore’s camera and some of the year’s most exacting sound design by Aaron Glascock drop you into cold air and colder water. James suffers a mid-flight heart attack. The seaplane hits the lake. Odin is thrown into the trees. Clearly, this is not Marley & Me.