The Bastard King

This is a Philip Glass time tunnel Ambient House dribble drop skronk and bonk remix of the director's *The Lions Rule* (aka NGC's *Lion Kingdom*) so over color-corrected it becomes black & white with a nod to sepia

The novelty is that it's a live action The Lion King complete with allegory, symbolism, and deep thoughts. It's also like a contemporary South Korean rich and powerful men and their rich and powerful man problems thriller

It comes off as fan service to those who hold *The Lions Rule* to be one of the best lion documentaries ever made. It's got Easter Eggs flying galore using almost all the same footage shuffled about to tell a different story

Here, "the kingdoms" are The Glade and the Baobab Forest (from *The Lions Rule*) near the Mwagusi River in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania. The "blue-eyed nomads" are the Njaa Pride, and the "yellow eyes" a mix of the Baobab and Glade Prides

This "feature film" comes as no surprise to me

Prümm has lived in Ruaha for almost two decades. He knows, and cares about, the animals, the terrain, and where the action takes place. He's captured some of the best takedowns ever seen in a "lion documentary". Jaw-dropping stuff. He's carved out a niche unlike anyone else doing these things. He tells stories, dramas, with animals instead of humans. Not really documentaries. The way he captures/puts together the scene of the Bastard Boy King saying goodbye to his true love is unbelievable, so touching

I usually don't like animal documentaries/movies told in first person, and super don't like phony dramatic narration, but darn! **David Oyelowo** hits a home run here.