An Explicit, Vicious ‘Call of the Wild’

“Jack London’s The Call of the Wild” is the most authentic film version yet made of the classic tale. Unlike Hollywood’s two attempts (the 1935 Clark Gable/Loretta Young version, and the 1972 Charlton Heston version), this Family Channel special closely follows London’s harrowing story of life on the 19th century frontier of Alaska’s gold rush.

The saga of Buck, a large domesticated dog who is kidnapped and taken to the Yukon to pull sleds, is, like the story of Elsa, the lion in “Born Free,” an idealization of what London describes, in the title as well as the text of his novel, as the call of the wild.

The London tale, however, leaves no cruel detail untouched in Buck’s epic transition from a lovable domestic house pet to a mythic master of the wilderness. As Buck experiences the unpredictable vagaries of life in the frozen Yukon, he learns, says narrator Richard Dreyfuss (reading from the novel), to “kill or be killed, eat or be eaten.”

In the rush to produce a credible version of the novel, director Peter Svatek has gone to great lengths to match London’s narrative directness with an equally explicit visual presentation. The result is a picture that--despite its identity as a classic novel and its presence on the Family Channel--includes many scenes that simply should not be watched by younger viewers.

There is, for example, the pack killing of Curly, a young dog who is a friend of Buck’s. There are numerous beatings and whippings of dogs and a particularly vicious to-the-death fight between Buck and another dog.

At the start of the film, a disclaimer points out that no animals were injured or harmed in the making of the picture. That’s good to hear. But, given the effectiveness of the visual illusions--the rapid-fire violence, the loud, growling audio, the frequent depictions of blood and dead animals--the impact on children is fraught with potential problems.

Rutger Hauer, in the role of John Thornton, a woodsman character who wins Buck’s trust and affection, does a convincing job with a part that affords little in the way of character development. But the real stars of “The Call of the Wild” are the several dogs who play the part of Buck, investing his many complex scenes with an extraordinary array of communicative qualities.

* “Jack London’s The Call of the Wild” airs at 9 p.m. Sunday on the Family Channel. The network has rated it TV-PG (may not be suitable for young children).