The Ghost and the Darkness are the names given to the lions that attacked. It was 1898 when bridge builder Col. John Patterson joined a team in Tsavo, Africa to build a bridge between Kenya and Uganda. During building, lions were attacking at night, killing hundreds of workers in a matter of weeks. It was making the men too afraid to stay and work. As the killings became more frequent, Patterson requested reinforcements but was quickly denied by his superior in England. One of Patterson's workers called for his own reinforcement, in known huntsman Charles Remington. Patterson and Remington fight off the lions side by side. They learn there are two lions in particular that are hunting together. Lions are independent hunters. "These lions, are not like lions." Together, Patterson and Remington are on a mission to keep their workers safe, and end the terror the lions bring.
The two maneless lions that attacked were shot and killed by John Patterson. It took more than 6 months to build the bridge, than the 4 months originally scheduled. Patterson documents these events in his book The Man-Eaters of Tsavo. Now the lions are on display at The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. I don't know about you, but I've never seen "maneless" male lions before. In the film they were lions with manes, which I think makes them a little scarier.
I love this film because it's thrilling, suspenseful, with a touch of humor, with some of the greatest actors to portray the legend from 100 years ago.
The real lions
No comments:
Post a Comment