Watch Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness For Free

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

hyped garbage

good back-story, and good acting

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This creaky "docu-drama" is pretty difficult to enjoy from a 21st Century vantage point.It chronicles the efforts of one family in what in 1927 was still Siam to survive in the wilds of the jungle. But the film demonizes the natural world, and particularly the animals who live in it, to the point that the family seems to be winning some sort of moral victory every time they kill a tiger or tame an elephant. It also doesn't help that most of the film is obviously staged, undermining the seriousness of this family's struggle with the jungle. All these years later, with mankind raping and exploiting the natural world out of existence, it's nearly impossible not to find this film distasteful.And I really could have done without the twee storyline (and especially the "comic relief" title cards) involving the family's pet monkey."Chang" was nominated in the one-time only category of Unique and Artistic Picture at the very first Academy Awards, but it lost, thank God, to F.W. Murnau's exquisite "Sunrise." That the two films were even nominated in the same category is hard to believe.Grade: C

I had just seen Cooper's movie "The Most Dangerous Game" and really liked it. A friend of mine suggested this film also by Cooper (&Schoendack) "Chang". I'm not one who normally rents silent movies but glad I did this one. Explores family life in the jungles of Siam (Thailand)in 1925. The way the family interacts with an unbelieveable assortment of animals is astounding. The scenes with tigers, leopards, bears, snakes etc are not to be missed. I venture to say that the elephant (Chang) stampede scene in this movie has never been done the way its done in this film--simply fantastic.

Previously Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack made Grass, a very great silent documentary inspired by the success of Nanook of the North (which they hadn't even seen when they were flying off to the Middle East to film the long migration of a group of nomads). Grass was a real documentary, with little staging. Nanook, however, had a lot of staging, and has suffered a ton of criticism since its first release because of it. No matter how clearly Nanook is staged, Cooper's and Schoedsack's Chang is a hundred times more staged. I don't care. It's an amazing film. Call it a fictionalized documentary, or a fudged one. Whatever. Chang is an awesome movie. The story is gripping, the cinematography is great, and the filmmaking in general is wonderful. I'm sitting there wondering how the hell they got these shots of tigers and elephants and stuff. I'm thinking Carl Denham, the risk-taking filmmaker from their own later King Kong. This whole movie seems like a preparation for King Kong. A couple of the scenes are repeated there. This may be preparation, but it is as amazing in its own way. 10/10.

One of the amazing productions of the last century which would be never forgotten.I've seen it from a special version video released with contemporary music from "Fong-Nam",the new Thai classical band,featuring Bruce Gaston.The worth masterpiece for audiences,purely.