This movie is about one specific elephant. The life of this elephant included street begging on the one hand; but on the other hand elephants in Buddhist Thailand have a sacred position within the Thai society. The elephant, such as the one in the movie, are considered to be the form of life the first Buddha (Sidhartha)had when through a dream was implanted into the womb of the mother. The role of the elephant is almost like the role of a sacred human being. The street elephant is a religious icon in the Thai Buddhist culture. At the same time the owner of the street elephant needs to make a living from this elephant. In a sense the elephant is like an art form, a heritage piece and a holy entity and a dirty rat at the same time - with no use in Modern day society and big city politics, globalization and capitalism. Lucky for this specific Asian type elephant, that through the filming of his life, the Royalty of Thailand inserted the elephant into a wild life sanctuary because otherwise the Thai family supporting the elephant and the elephant himself would have died in despair and utter poverty.

"When Elephants Were Young" is a brilliant, insightful, and sensitive new film from the Canadian film-making duo Patricia Sims and Michael Clark, whose previous documentary "Return to the Forest" (http://worldelephantday.org/about/return-to-the-forest), chronicled the successful and ongoing mission of the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand in returning captive elephants to the wild. This new film, "When Elephants Were Young," details the life of Bangkok elephant Nong Mai and Nong Mai's young male mahout (caretaker and trainer), Wok. Nong Mai and Wok attempt to forge a living by illegally begging on the streets of Bangkok, facing indifference if not outright hostility at every turn. This is a demeaning development from a culture that once elevated the sacred elephant/human relationship that has existed since time immemorial. Narrated by William Shatner, the film is chock full of fascinating information about this age-old symbiotic dynamic. It articulates the integral role the intelligent and highly sentient Asian elephant has played in the successful development of the Thai economy and how intertwined the symbolism of the elephant is with the Buddhist culture that prevails in Thailand today. Nong Mai is like family to Wok, and we watch with heavy heart as together they try to retain some shred of dignity in the face of extreme hardship in their collective struggle to survive on the street. The film details how and why the fate of the Asian elephant has become so perilous, including how the tourism industry in Thailand has largely contributed to the elephants' deprivation and abuse. It discusses the decline in numbers of the Asian elephant population in Thailand (where there used to be 100,000 to 200,000 about 100 years ago there are now only roughly 4,000) and pinpoints the causative factor: a shrinkage of their range due to manifold forms of human encroachment. The story of Nong Mai and Wok has a happy through bittersweet conclusion while the film itself is a heart-rending clarion call to everyone concerned with the future of the planet and its wildlife, to stand up and take action to help these precious imperiled Asian elephants, of which only approximately 45,000 remain alive today.

Obviously years in the making, this film covers a necessary and optimistic phenomenon of returning the wild to the wild. With a humanistic approach as to the impact on both the wild elephant and it's human keeper. Just a beautiful film. We get to follow the kind of life this captive elephant has been forced to live and the challenges of the human who cares for the elephant. Their partnership for the human's business, adds depth to the human side. The elephant's seeming willingness to cooperate for the enterprise, and the eventual release of the elephant back to the wild. The optimistic results of releasing the elephants back to the forest is uplifting.

This is a documentary film about the unique relationship between elephant and man in the Asian elephant industry. It exposed many conflicts that are currently occurring in Thailand with elephants. I felt happy,sad, and anger all throughout the movie which to me means that it was a movie while worth watching. I feel like I have learned so much more about elephant tourism in Asia that I would not have learned if I had never seen it. This is a great movie if you are contemplating whether or not to see elephants while traveling to Thailand. It lays out all the facts and provides insight.I highly recommend watching When Elephants Were Young.