When we hear the world "elephant", we either imagine a circus, its big trunk coiling, or its precious ivory tusk which has led hunters to take these amiable beasts of burden down. In Saving Flora, a girl who's made friends with an elephant because she's the daughter of a ringmaster runs away from home and takes Flora, an elephant too advanced in age to perform, so her friend could avoid being out to sleep forever via euthanasia.
The family friendly film debuted in Traverse City Film Festival 2018 and is directed by Mark Drury Taylor, who, like our very own Brillante Mendoza, is a veteran doing commercials, as a director though and not as a production designer. His first film about a girl undergoing a 300-mile journey to help her friend and find more about the world enjoyed a limited release last summer of 2018 and is set to hit many Philippine cinemas this July 2019 thanks to WOMY Film Production, the distributor.
The film stars Jenna Ortega (Dawn) and Martin Martinez (Sebastian). The supporting cast members are David Arquette (Henry), Leonor Varela (Isabella), and Rhea Perlman (Gabriella). Due to the many hearts it touched, the film has already won a couple of awards like the Best Feature Film at Synkronized, and Indie Vision - Debut Director for Mark at the Twin Cities Film Fest.
Many stories have been told about friendships between a human and an animal but it's usually about domestic pets like cats or dogs, not elephants. In literature, so far, there's one relevant book which is A Girl and Her Elephant by Zoey Gong. In the news, there's this little known but touching story about Tarra the elephant whose best friend for eight years was a dog named Bella.
One of the best scenes in the film mirrors what elephants do in real life, spot people in trouble easily and know what to do about it. Since the pair ran away from home, it can't be helped that a reward was put out for those who can give info about their whereabouts or bring them back. Thus, a burly man eager for the reward and his lackeys are about to rough up Dawn when Flora sweeps at them with her mighty trunk and saves the day.
Another nice touch to the film was the chemistry between Dawn and Sebastian, who come from opposite worlds. She's been cooped up in a circus all her life while he's running around and doing nasty things for his brother since they are poor. What's also showcased in the movie aside from the friendship is what people learn from each other by meeting someone else so different from themselves. The handling of the cinematography of the picturesque Los Angeles location would make you think that the film was shot elsewhere like in Thailand which is considered the land of elephants and where they are sacred.
But, there's nothing more sacred than the beauty of friends from different species willing to go the extra mile for one another.
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