One man's personal account of his study of pumas--and particularly his relationship with a female he named Penny, "after an old friend"--is incredibly touching. Natural-history filmmaker Hugh Miles lived in Patagonia for two years in Chile's Torres Del Paine National Park. His first-person narration, combined with brilliant photography, makes this video fascinating to watch. Viewers will be treated to all seasons and soft-textured night-vision photography. Ruddy ducks, Chilean flamingoes, hares, wild ancestors of the llama, and little gray foxes are all among the cast of characters on this grand Andean stage. Puma: Lion of the Andes is stylistically poetic, and its clear that the narrator's interest in pumas is not just sentiment but concern for conservation of an important member of a threatened ecosystem. --Cristina Del Sesto |