Owen Prumm	...	(Director)
Ruth Berry	...	(Writer)
Owen Prumm	...	Cinematographer
Sarah Class	...	Original Music Composer
Bray Poor	...	Narrator (voice)
Glade Pride	...
Baobab pride	...
Njaa Pride	...

Comments: Seven Reasons why this is one of the best Big Cat Documentaries ever made:


1) Great score by <a href="https://letterboxd.com/composer/sarah-class/">Sarah Class</a>, which feels to me like it was actually composed for the film and not phoned in as mood snippets to choose from. She uses themes, and silliness when appropriate
2) The picture has a warm <i>film</i> quality to it we don't often see in animal documentaries
3) "The actors are more attractive and have more depth and expression in their eyes than most humans. The drama is authentic. The blood is real". You won't believe what the baboons do
4) This was done in the film maker's backyard. Owen Prumm has lived and filmed in Ruaha National Park in Tanzania for decades. He knows the land and must have a pretty good feel for the trials and tribulations of the many lion prides in residence, and where things are going to take place
5) These things all manufacture a story and a little drama to some degree. This one brings receipts
6) The narration, while a little dramatic at times, is pretty sparse. Minutes go by with nothing but the action and score to speak for themselves. Very refreshing
7) No humans on screen

Ruaha National Park is remote. There are a few Safari camps there now but not in the years, yes years, this was being filmed, so the "untouched" pristine of it is palpable

The press for this says it takes place in a "charmed" or "magical" place called <b>The Glade</b>, at a bend in the <a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/3khxFrzz9z648Afp6">Mwagusi River</a>. I googled the crap out "the glade" and found nothing. The Mwagusi is about 20-30 miles long. I tried walking it in Google Maps street view looking for something familiar. LOL, nope

Then I came upon another doc Prumm released called <a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/lion-battle-zone/"><i>Lion Battle Zone</i></a>. It's clearly from the same work he was doing here, probably between 2005 and 2015 or so, but doesn't mention "The Glade". In hindsight I'm sure that's because he wanted to do another story specific to that place and that pride, which is what we have here

<b><i>Lion Kingdom</i></b> is about three prides: Glade, Baobab, and Njaa
<b><i>Lion Battle Zone</i></b> is about five prides: Mdonya, Baobab, Bushbuck, Kumi, and Njaa

Here's a <a href="https://postimg.cc/94xbp1f5">map</a> taken from <i>Battle Zone</i> of where those prides are located. It was put up one at a time for each pride so I had to grab one (Baobab) and fill in the rest. The fact that the Glade Pride was never marked or mentioned in <i>Battle Zone</i> is very conspicuous. The dark stuff is the buffalo route through the pride territories. Each pride waits for them to arrive. The badass mofo Njaa drifters consider the buffalo their "territory", boundaries be damned

<b>Parental Advisory</b>: there is an extended scene where the Njaa Pride tortures, ultimately to death, one of the Baobab lionesses. Very uncomfortable. Then it's heartbreaking. The rest of the Baobabs try to save her, by submitting not fighting, then they all wait by the river to see if she can get up. She can't, so the Baobabs leave. The tortured lioness' mother is the last to go. As she is walking away the tortured girl gets half way up, and then falls down dead. It's a crushing sequence

<a href="https://letterboxd.com/sitenoise/list/big-cats-cream-of-the-crop/">Big Cats - Cream of the Crop</a>
—————

One of the best. Great score. Great drama. Great story. Glade pride, small but wise—Baobab pride, more than 30 strong hunters—Njaa pride, ferocious, power-hungry drifters

First of all, Sarah Class’s score elevates this far above an ordinary Big Cat Doc. It’s obvious she wrote most, if not all, of it FOR the film, and didn’t just submit generic mood snippits

Second, Owen Prumm’s photography has a warmth, a filmish quality, we don’t often see in such docs

Bray Poor’s narration is a bit dramatic but at least there’s not too much of it.

Summary: E1 ∙ Pride and Punishmen, E2 ∙ Hunter of Giants, E3 ∙ Blood Rivals

“The Lions Rule” is the saga of three lion families linked together by a strange, charmed place called the Glade: a beautiful oasis on the Mwagusi River in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania

The continent of Africa is home to a vast number of different species, but of all the animals and birds it is the Lion that is most revered. These 3 one hour programs cover the different landscapes that make up the Lion’s Kingdom and examine the role that the King of Beasts plays in each of these

S1.E1 ∙ Pride and Punishment
A pact exists between a baboon and a lion family who, against natural instincts, live in harmony.

S1.E2 ∙ Hunter of Giants
The Glade is a paradise where there is always water, herds of elephants arrive in the Glade.

S1.E3 ∙ Blood Rivals
An adult male lion arrives to resume his position as leader, and father.