The Grey (the Movie)

Into The Fray:
“Once more into the fray, into the last good fight I’ll ever know/ live and die on this day, live and die on this day.” Liam Neeson played the lead character, John Ottaway whom recited this eloquently written poem throughout the movie The Grey directed by Joe Carnahan. John Ottaway, is the relevant leader of the pack, who had flashbacks of his wife that left him and in doing so left him heartless and broken. His character was seeking answers and it seems as if the wilderness is where he would find them. Staring into the face of death and trying to find the meaning of his life now that he was alone. He found himself on a course of trials, tribulations and lifesaving tactics as the plane he was on with a group of rough neck oil drillers crashed in a winter storm. Leaving them lost in the Alaska wilderness in freezing temperatures. Ottaway was a wolf sniper for the oil company. His job was to keep wolves from getting anywhere near the job sites. Ironically, this would be the death defying feat he was to face with the six inexperienced group of men whom survived the plane crash.
The Alaskan wilderness in The Grey is portrayed as opulent, primitive, awe-inspiring and unforgiving. These seven men are faced with that very scenario after the crash, miles away from civilization. Blizzard conditions with luggage scattered about and not enough food for survival. Immediately, Ottaway tells them “it is ten below and falling. They need a fire and should gather up anything that will burn. Seats, luggage, and any wood they can find.” The men search through the luggage at the crash site and find clothing from suitcases to wear and layer up under their coats. Upon searching the crash site, Ottaway had found his gun. However due to the crash and severity of the storm, it was damaged beyond repair. He collected the ammunition and tossed the gun aside.
While at the crash site, the men encountered their first pack of wolves. Ottaway realized, these men had no clue what surviving a pack of wolves would entail. He explained, “Wolves were the only animals, other than humans that will actually seek revenge.” Ottaway, while searching for food and building a fire explains to the men, “Wolves have a territorial range of over three hundred miles and a killer range of thirty. If we 're close to their den, and if we 're within that radius, then they 'll come after us.” When the men ask, about wolves being afraid of people, Ottaway explained, “If they are in their den, they aren’t afraid of anything.” The men surmised to leave the site crash, to try and seek out any sort of civilization. Through the treacherous deep snow. Before leaving, Ottaway takes large sticks they found nearby and attach the ammunition on the end of them with electrical tape. This was his only hope as defense, besides fire and keeping the men in a pack, to help intimidate the wolves.
As the men became weaker, the wolves became stronger. Each encounter with a wolf, would lead to a moment with each character. They each had a story and it wasn’t until they faced death against the wolves, that their stories came to surface. You eventually gained an understanding for these men, some even empathy. On the surface, The Grey quotes were about surviving the wilderness but on a deeper level it submerged into a mythical level, exploring the meaning of life and what lied beyond civilization. It made you feel the trepidation, desolation, strife, hope and the many obstacles to survival. It challenged spirituality, and it delved into the existence of God and humanity. Throughout the movie, it took us back to glimpses of his life. The story of his father. A very influential and robust man, who in his old age became dependent on the main character, Ottaway. The poem recited by Ottaway throughout the movie was a poem written by his father and had hung on the wall most the John Ottaway’s life. This poem, inspired Ottaway, it helped motivate the character giving him an unimaginable amount of strength through his most untenable moments in life.
Not only did John Ottaway have to find strength in spirituality and humanity when he had to slowly, verbally walk one character in the beginning of the movie through his death after the crash, he had to fight to save each of the other men as well as himself. One by one, the characters lose their battle. One to hyperthermia, another, who is afraid of heights. Ottaway explained to the men, their only hope was to get away from the wolves, thus resulting in crossing a creek 100ft down from the mountain. They took their extra clothing and blankets they had retrieved from the plane and built a tether. One by one they scaled across it. One character in particular was afraid of heights. Ottaway offered to go last. The character shrugged him off and sends Ottaway on his way, reassuring him he is following behind. Just as he is about to cross, fear sets in his hand is injured previously from a wolf attack, his boot is inhibited on the tether. He begins to panic, trembling with anxiety, he lets go of the tether and descended. He faced such tragic losses amongst the men who once were considered barbarous and formidable to John Ottaway, who eventually became concomitants. By the end of the film, Ottaway found himself exactly where he never wanted to be. Alone, weak and unfortunately he found he had trudged himself straight into the wolves den. Within this moment, the character realized, he was in for the real fight of his life. The beginning of the movie he was ready to take his life, and in the end he was fighting for it. He took out his electrical tape from the bag, taped his knife in one hand and took the glass liquor bottles from the plane they had acquired early on and taped them to his other hand and broke them on a rock. He manifests himself toward the Alpha Wolf. “Once more into the fray, into the last good fight I’ll ever know/ live and die on this day, live and die on this day.” Is recited one last time by Ottaway. The next brief clip is Ottaway laying with his head on the alpha wolf. Both, exhausted and barely breathing. In this moment, you hope for an answer. Then end left you wondering. Did the wilderness take back its own, or did the civilian persevere?

Works Cited
The Grey. Dir. Joe Carnahan, Open Road Films, 2012.

Cited: The Grey. Dir. Joe Carnahan, Open Road Films, 2012.