Regular Price $29.99

Starring: Kru,  Chantui,  Nah,  Ladah,  Bimbo the Monkey, 
Directed By: Ernest B. Schoedsack,  Merian C. Cooper, 
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Release Date: 1927-09-03
Studio: Image Entertainment
Format: Black & White,  DVD-Video,  NTSC, 

Editorial Reviews and DVD Information about Chang

Description
The lost masterpiece by the makers of "King Kong," Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's "Chang" is available for the first time in over 45 years. Shot entirely in Siam, the film tells the story of a farmer and his family who have settled a small patch of land on the edge of the jungle. Their existence is a constant struggle against the many wild animals around them--bears, tigers, leopards, and even...changs! The climactic elephant stampede is still one of the most exciting scenes in cinema history.

Amazon.com
Before creating their grand fantasy King Kong, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack took their cameras to Siam to put genuine wild jungle creatures on the screen in their part-adventure, part-documentary spectacle Chang. It was a smash hit upon its 1927 release and is still considered a classic of the genre, filled with sights that retain their power 70 years later. A loose story is constructed around the lives of a family living at the edge of the jungle in a hut raised high up on stilts. The father tracks the leopards killing his livestock while the children play with a veritable petting zoo of furry little pups and cubs. The filmmakers are at times condescending toward their tribal heroes ("We be mighty hunters, Kru," comments one warrior in an intertitle, as if their own language is but some pidgin dialect) and fill the film with goofy comic relief. Just forget the story and enjoy the sights: hunters building deadfalls and spring traps, a leopard charging through the woods, and the climactic elephant stampede. The images of the awesome beasts fording a river like a rampaging army while the villagers struggle to split the herd and save their village is astounding. The silent film is set to an original score by Bangkok composer Bruce Gaston and performed by the traditional Thailand orchestra Fong Naam.

The beautifully mastered DVD also features commentary by historian Rudy Behlmer, a color test for the film, a production essay, and a reproduction of the original press kit. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews for Chang

& then mr cooper said: "if you think elephants are big, wait til you see my next movie..."
any fans of "king kong" (the real one, not the retreads) will be interested in this earlier merian c cooper movie, set in the jungles of then-siam, where a family learns to deal with the forces of nature, most notably an invading herd of elephants. short and involving, and fascinating as an early docudrama. also there is an interesting new musical score by thai musicians fongnam that id be tempted to buy on cd. still tho the main reason to see this is as a precursor to the skull island sequences of 5 years later.
Chang

A sad relic of human cruelty
Eww. This film is apparently a classic of the silent era, a pioneering jungle film by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, the producers of the 1931 hit, "King Kong." Filmed in location in Siam, this chronicles the life of a Laotian farm family living deep in the forest, amid elephants, tigers, leopards and all sorts of other beasties. Unfortunately, the film's theme is man vs. nature, with a distinctly pro-human, triumphalist agenda. Thus, while this is a technically well constructed work of art, it also basically amounts to a glorified animal snuff film, with villagers hunting and shooting large cats, snakes, monitor lizards, bears, elephants (the "chang" of the film's title...) and anything else on hoof, wing or belly that they could line up in front of the camera. And I don't mean fake-action shooting them -- these animals are really being shot and burned and speared and killed in front of our eyes. It's gross. As the animals yelp with anger and surprise, they are hounded and cut down in front of our eyes, as the silent-film placards crack out little one-liner "gag" captions, like, "Go Get 'Em, Fellas...!" If you have any empathy at all for the animals, this movie is simply unbearable to watch, steeped in the exploitative anti-nature ethos of the 19th Century... It's really a bummer.Chang

Wonderful story, ethnographic detail
I bought the dvd to show to students -- it's full of wonderful details for folks interested in the history and way-of-life of villagers in 1920s Laos/Siam. The extras and commentary make for a fascinating history of Hollywood and American cultural penetration into Southeast Asia, as well. But ultimately it's the strong plot and amazing camera work that holds your attention. A great film. Not for lovers of happy animals, though. They kill plenty of them.Chang

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