Grey Owl (1999) Synopsis & Summary

Archibald Belaney was a British man who grew up fascinated with Native American culture -- so much so that in the early 1900s he left the United Kingdom for Canada, where he reinvented himself as Archie Grey Owl and lived in the wild as a North American Indian trapper. He eventually became an environmental activist after renouncing trapping and hunting. Grey Owl is based on Belaney's true story, starring Pierce Brosnan in the title role. In 1934, Archie was living a largely solitary life when he met a young woman named Anahareo (Annie Galipeau), an Ojibway Indian nicknamed Pony. Pony is fascinated by Archie, largely because she wants to know about her people's heritage. Her father, Jim (Graham Greene), is a businessman who wears a suit to work and has little concern for his history; in Archie, Pony sees a link to her past that she can't find in her family. Archie has little use for Pony at first, but in time the two begin to bond, and it's Pony who convinces Archie to give up trapping and work to protect animals. She also encourages Archie to write a book about wilderness life in Canada. The book becomes a huge success and makes Archie something of a celebrity, but with recognition come nagging questions about Archie's true heritage. (In reality, Archie Grey Owl's true idenity did not become public knowledge until after his death.) - Mark Deming, All Movie Guide