Historical spin on new ‘Tarzan’

LOS ANGELES: Tarzan may have left the jungle, but the call of the wild proves too irresistible for the vine-swinging hero as he is lured back to the wild only to find himself racing to save his kidnapped wife and the Congolese people in a new film.

The Legend of Tarzan, due in SA on July 15, sees Tarzan, played by Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgard, going by the name John Clayton, living in a manor in Victorian England and married to Jane, played by Margot Robbie.

But an invitation to the Congo draws the Claytons back, where they are ambushed and Jane is kidnapped by the nefarious Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz), who has been tasked with delivering Tarzan to a tribal chief in exchange for diamonds.

“It’s more about the traditional story in reverse, so we go back to the Congo rather than beginning there,” Robbie said.

Skarsgard, best known for playing a vampire in the True Blood TV series, is the latest star to play Tarzan, bulking up his physique over nine months to embody the jungle hero’s strength and animal-like agility.

The fictional story of Tarzan, based on the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is weaved into the real life story of African- American historian George Washington Williams, who travelled to the Congo and condemned Belgium’s King Leopold II for his harsh and brutal treatment of the Congolese people.

Samuel L Jackson plays Williams, who helps save the locals from being enslaved by Belgium’s military.

“It’s one way of giving it some historical accuracy,” Jackson said. – Reuters

Alexander Skarsgard