In ‘Alpha,’ look back at man’s best friend
Ice Age drama features unlikely alliance between teen and wolf
There have been many humanand-dog friendship stories portrayed on the big screen.
But there can only be one origin story, prehistoric-style.
Alpha (in theaters March 2) is an early human/canine adventure film, which premieres its trailer and first image at usatoday.com.
It features an unlikely Ice Age alliance between a wolf called Alpha and a teen, Keda ( X-Men star Kodi Smit-McPhee), formed 20,000 years ago — an alliance that turns into the kind of friendship we’re used to seeing.
It doesn’t start promisingly, as Keda fends off a wolf pack attack, gravely injuring one of the wolves. But rather than kill his would-be oppressor, Keda spares the injured wolf ’s life and they begin to form an interspecies relationship (after a few snarls) in the difficult early European world.
“Keda has trouble straying from the unconditional love he feels for the animals he’s expected to kill, as he sees them in the same act of survival that he’s in,” says Smit-McPhee. “Alpha is another being surviving in the harsh realities of nature.
“It’s Keda’s recognition of this that creates a bond not yet discovered in his time, the harmony of beast and man,” he adds.
It’s tough going for Keda in the film directed by Albert Hughes ( Menace II Society). Keda learns how to hunt bison with his people, but falters with tragic consequences. He’s knocked from a cliff and left for dead after a perilous fall.
“We see one of the most advanced tribes pass legacies down from mouth to ear, and also how it wasn’t that simple to adapt to the tribe’s requirements,” says Smit-McPhee.
But Keda pulls through. Alpha becomes a game-changing force emotionally.
“Having compassion for something such as wolf, who is viewed as a threat, shows that survival it- self isn’t the only reason to live, that in fact we want to keep surviving for the sensation of love,” said Smit-McPhee.
Alpha also makes a great traveling partner as the two face multiple challenges attempting to journey back to Keda’s tribe before winter falls.
Naturally, Alpha features a wolf-and-prehistoric-man sleep cuddle.
“This is the first step in the relationship of man’s best friend,” says Smit-McPhee.