Brad Pitt and German Shepherd Uber in Heart of the Beast
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures
In the emotional survival thriller Heart of the Beast, retired Special Forces soldier James Belmont (played by Brad Pitt) and his combat dog Odin (played by real German Shepherd Uber) fly to the Alaskan wilderness for some peace and quiet.
But things take a turn when their plane crashes. “The environment becomes the antagonist,” says director David Ayer. “It’s still stunning, but now the glaciers and the ice fields and the trees make it difficult to navigate. But James is an experienced Special Forces operator, so he knows how to move through rough terrain with only a map, a compass and a pencil to guide him.”
Filmed on location and in studio in New Zealand, Heart of the Beast brings an otherworldly feeling to the country’s soaring mountains and deep valleys. Ayer and his Academy® Award-winning director of photography Mauro Fiore have imbued the landscapes with a sense of beauty, mystery and a whiff of magical realism. “Mauro has old-school craftsmanship, artistry and a creative soul,” says Ayer. “His work here is all the more impressive because conditions were physically arduous. We were wet, cold, tired and miserable most of the time. There was something about being embedded in that way that comes across in the photography and brings truth to it.”
Fiore and Ayer discussed finding ways to create visuals that would be poetic and lyrical, says the cinematographer. “We spoke a bit about the beginning of the film being like an impressionist dream that gradually transforms into an expressionist nightmare,” explains Fiore. “By the end of the film, they are in purgatory. David wants the audience to be unsure of how much of what they’re watching is James’ subjective perception, almost dream imagery, and how much is reality.”
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures
Looking back at a career packed with challenging projects, Ayer figures that Heart of the Beast may be the most difficult film he has made to date. “I’ve done a lot of action movies with big casts and witty dialogue, but I’ve never felt more exposed as a director,” he admits. “It’s just Brad Pitt and four incredibly talented dogs. The focus and intensity were unparalleled. Every camera choice, every shot, the flow, the visuals, it was all critical.”
The characters, he says, will remain with audiences for a long time, pointing to a line early in the film in which the character Watkins (played by J. K. Simmons) refers to the region as “the heart of the beast.” “And that’s part of where the title comes from,” the director says. “But it also refers to Odin. He has an incredibly powerful heart. And so does James. For 30 years, all he’s known is war. War isn’t always military action. Everybody in their own life has their own struggles. So it’s about Odin’s heart and James’ heart and the beating heart of the environment they’re trying to survive in.”
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures
Ayer thinks the film will surprise people and hopes that it will inspire them to keep going, no matter the hardships, as Belmont and Odin do. “It’s about always being able to take one more step and never feeling sorry for yourself,” says Ayer. “There’s something aspirational in that. It’ll take audiences to a place they’ve only imagined and make them feel things they haven’t felt before. It hits hard. It shakes you up emotionally and within that emotional journey there’s action, there’s adventure, and there’s fun. At a certain point it grabs you and the next thing you know, it’s over and the credits are rolling, and you have tears in your eyes.”
Critics have responded well to the film, which currently has an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “As pretty as the natural landscape is to watch, it is still the gut-wrenching emotional reach of this simple story of humanity at its finest, loyalty and friendship at its most meaningful, and above all the heart of a ‘beast’ and the man standing at his side. There will not be a dry eye in the house. If this one doesn’t move you, there is no hope,” wrote Deadline Hollywood in their review.
Heart of the Beast is now showing nationwide. #HeartOfTheBeast
Photo and Video Credit: “Paramount Pictures”
 and his combat dog Odin (played by real German Shepherd Uber) fly to the Alaskan wilderness for some peace and quiet.){kind=link}