By: Gian Sexsmith and Tyler Warren

 On the left hand side of your screen you will find links to more information about the film. Scene analysis, information on the real Tsavo Lions and how they compare to the "true story" written by Colonel Patterson.

Thesis

    The Ghost and the Darkness is based on a colonial view of Africa. The film is portrayed through a Hollywood flavored Western lens.  It shows Africa as a wild and exotic land scape. Throughout the movie Africans and the land scape are portrayed as being noble and pristine. Africa was just beginning to be developed by the civilization of the European world.

About

   The 1996 Ghost and the Darkness is based on a true story written by Colonel John Pattern (played by Val Kilmer), a British engineer sent to Tsavo Africa to build a railroad bridge. In the movie, Patterson Unites the factional workers when he kills a lion that attacked a man earlier that day.  The director fuels the film by creating an ominous feeling the next day. It suggests there is another lion stalking the camp. Eventually we discover there are two lions, who attack the camp nightly, cleverly evading all of Colonel Patterson’s  attempts to kill them or ward them off.  With the remaining workers too terrified to go outside, the company brings in the “great white hunter,” Remington (Michael Douglas). Remington begins to track down the two man eaters.  The lions have taken on an almost mythic persona at the camp; the workers have begun to call them “Ghost” and “Darkness.” As the days go on, the situation becomes more dire. Eventually, we are left with Remington, Patterson, and their friend Samuel (John Kani), who set off to handle the fierce lions for good.

Tsavo Man Eaters at the Field Museum of Natural History In Chicago.
Tsavo Lion eating the trunk of an Elephant.
Large but aged Tsavo lion with worn teeth.
The first lion killed by Patterson.

The Real Tsavo Man Eaters

   Tsavo lions are a distinct variety of lion living around the Tsavo River in the Tsavo National Park in Kenya. Tsavo males are notable for their lack of mane, smooth pelt, their size, and that they actively participate in hunting.  Both The Ghost and the Darkness  movie, and Patterson's autobiography cite the camps death toll as high as 135. However,  Colonel Patterson's original account of the event claims the death count was only 28 (Gnoske).  The inflated figures helped him turn a good story into a profitable legend, one that the tourism industry in Kenya has thrived on.

    "The distorted version, perpetuated by Hollywood and popular treatments, falls more into the category of myth rather than fact. Promoting such fiction can actually have a negative impact on serious conservation efforts focused on preserving lions in the wild," Gnoske says.


Endangered prey:

   There are many factors that should be considered when talking about the Tsavo man eaters. During 1891 and 1893, Rinderpest was introduced, an infectious viral disease of cattle and buffalo which struck the sub Saharan Africa. This disease killed off most of the cattle and buffalo, leaving the lions unable to eat their natural prey. Colonel Patterson's records show that Kenya was still feeling the impacts from Rinderpest. There were also changing environmental factors that affected herbivore populations.

   Humans deteriorated Tsavo's ecosystems with their quest for ivory. Mass killings eliminated most, if not all elephants from Tsavo and across much of Kenya. With no elephants to regulate the growth of thick brush, the savannah soon became overwhelmed with tangled, thorny, ground cover.  This environment that is excellent cover for lions but is not suited to all grazing animals.  Humans soon became the easiest remaining prey, lions could stalk them from the bush, ambush them, drag them back in, and escape with ease.