The Game of Survival… The Bear, (1988) known as L’Ours in its original release, is a feature film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. The screenplay by Gérard Brach was adapted from the novel The Grizzly King by James Oliver Curwood. Set in late 19th century British Columbia, Canada, the film tells the story of an orphaned bear cub befriended and protected by an adult male grizzly as hunters pursue them through the wilds. Though the film did not enjoy overwhelming commercial success with its North American release, it was acclaimed in France, and was nominated for and won numerous international film awards. Plot and cast In the mountainous wilds of British Columbia, a grizzly bear cub (Douce) suffers the death of his mother from a rockslide. Soon the young cub meets a large male grizzly (Bart the Bear) attempting to soothe a bullet wound inflicted by a pair of hunters (Jack Wallace and Tcheky Karyo). A friendship forms between the two bears. The two hunters are joined by another hunter (Andre Lacombe) and a pack of hunting dogs. The bears are chased over a ridge with the dogs in pursuit. The cub hides and the grizzly lures the dogs away, killing some of them. The hunters find the cub and take him to their camp. They leave to pursue the larger bear. The hunters separate and the younger one is suddenly cornered, without his gun, by the grizzly. Faced with the bear’s menacing roars and snarls, the hunter cowers in fear and whimpers in the face of certain death. The grizzly …