REVIEW: ‘Wild: Life, Death and Love in a Wildlife Hospital’
Photo: Wild: Life, Death and Love in a Wildlife Hospital depicts the brave work of doctors and caretakers tending to animals in Israel. Photo courtesy of Cat n Docs / Provided by press site.
Wild: Life, Death and Love in a Wildlife Hospital sums up its narrative in that extended title. This one-hour portrait of a wildlife hospital in Israel is both inspiring and saddening, depicting doctors and caretakers trying — sometimes with impossible odds — to save the lives of injured exotic species. Sometimes they succeed, and the happiness is bountiful, while other times they fail to intervene on time, and the results are drastic to behold.
The story of this wildlife hospital is seen through the eyes of two workers: Ariella, a veterinarian, and Shmulik, a caretaker. They are dedicated to the animals in their care, and their efforts are truly the reason for watching this documentary. Ariella will take animals into surgery on an almost continual basis, and she seems ready to handle any emergency thrown at her. Shmulik, on the other hand, works directly with the animals in their habitats and facilities. One small deer, struggling to walk after breaking its leg, is a particular pet project of his, and he loses gallons of sweat, hovering over the scared animal and trying to get it to walk. There are many setbacks and few joys.
WILD – trailer from CAT&Docs on Vimeo.
Wild, which recently played New York City’s Film Forum, is not an easy film to watch because there are many cases that end with tragedy. One wild donkey comes into the clinic, and the writing is almost immediately on the wall about the animal’s fate. Still, the cameras don’t turn away, and this leaves viewers with a depressing reality.
At its Film Forum run, Wild was paired with Waiting for Giraffes, which depicted the challenges of the only zoo in the Palestinian Territories. That film had a sense of the political situation in the local area and the bridges that can be made across cultures given a common goal. Wild, on the other hand, is more focused on the animals and their stories, and the outside world never really creeps into the daily operations of the clinic.
Perhaps one glaring omission in the film is exactly what type of wildlife hospital is on view. It’s unclear how these animals are coming to the clinic and these helpful doctors. Are they all wild animals? Pets? Zoo animals? Traveling from nearby or afar? Context is largely missing.
Still, Wild is a wild ride that depicts human intervention and how it can save the lives of many animals, or at least provide a respectful exit from this world. Thankfully there are dedicated people willing to work with injured and dying animals, many of them injured in the first place because of human ignorance.
The documentary is a realistic and necessary look at the frontlines of animal welfare.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Wild: Life, Death and Love in a Wildlife Hospital (2018). Directed by Uriel Sinai and Daniel Elpeleg. Running time: 59 minutes. In Hebrew with English subtitles. Rating: 
Click here for more information.
