Verdict
Summary
American Bolshevik is a fascinating look into one of America’s most misunderstood animals and our troubled relationship with them. If you are as interested in coyotes as I am then you should definitely seek this out.
Plot: This is the story of how the most hunted animal in America not only survived a century of persecution, but thrived and expanded its territory. It is up to us, their human neighbors, to understand these intelligent and adaptable creatures so that we can learn to coexist.
Review: Anyone who knows me also knows I am obsessed with coyotes; over the past few years I have come face to face with them regularly while walking in one of my favourite parks and they are fascinating and beautiful creatures. I hear them outside my apartment nearly every night after sundown and I’m still mesmerized every time.
In a wonderful piece of timing there is a new documentary about these misunderstood animals called American Bolshevik which explores how coyotes have been the most hunted and yet they still continue to thrive.
Filmmaker Julie Marron conducts many interviews with people across America who have grown to protect coyotes and one of the men interviewed was even someone who was hired to hunt them.
Clearly, a lot of research has been done into this film and being the fan that I am of coyotes I loved every second of it. Not only is it entertaining but also informative going into the differences between Eastern and Western coyotes. As someone who isn’t natively from North America I had no idea there were the different kinds but every coyote I’ve seen is definitely the Eastern (called that as they are a wolf hybrid).
Overall, there isn’t much else I can say here other than if you are as fascinated by coyotes as I am and are interested in finding out more about them then American Bolshevik is a must-see giving us honest interviews and entertaining anecdotes about the history of man’s relationship with these creatures.