Grey Owl

Grey Owl is a 1999 drama directed by Richard Attenborough, set largely in the Canadian wilderness during the 1930s. It centres on Archie Belaney, a trapper and guide of mixed English and Indigenous upbringing who lives in the woods under the name Grey Owl. When a young Indigenous woman named Anahareo, also called Pony, comes to him asking to learn the old ways, she stays with him and is troubled by the suffering of the animals he catches. Her influence turns him away from trapping toward a life spent as a guide, writer and naturalist. He later takes work protecting beavers in a park reserve, and his writing and lectures bring him public attention, including invitations to speak in England. A hidden part of his past eventually comes to light.

Pierce Brosnan plays Grey Owl, with Annie Galipeau as Pony and supporting turns from Stewart Bick, Vlasta Vrana, Neil Kroetsch and Serge Houde. The screenplay is by William Nicholson, and Attenborough produced with Jake Eberts and Claude Léger for a budget of about 30 million dollars. The film was the eleventh of the twelve features Attenborough directed across four decades, arriving after In Love and War and before Closing the Ring.

Grey Owl was released on 1 October 1999 and runs 117 minutes. It blends drama and romance with western and action elements across British, Canadian and American productions. On TMDB it holds a rating of 5.7 out of 10 from 89 votes.