The Old Man and the Mountain Lion gets real at HMML

It’s a cat-eat-cat world in Michael Harrington’s debut short film, The Old Man and the Mountain Lion, which premieres Monday night at the Henry Miller Library among the very Big Sur wilderness where it was shot.

The film’s plot concerns a loner, played by Carmel theater veteran Keith Decker, whose secluded and quiet life is disrupted when a mountain lion attacks and kills his one true companion – a beloved house cat. Infuriated, he sets off into the woods seeking revenge. Yet it soon becomes clear that his quest is about far more than just blood.

According to Harrington, the inspiration for his original screenplay was two-fold – a Big Sur man who tracked and killed a pet-killing mountain lion in 2008; and an ornery neighbor of Harrington’s who wasn’t good with people, but was deeply connected to his pet cat.

Yet, like Moby-Dick or Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, the real story lies in the central character’s greater conflict with the natural world – and himself. And in an example of life imitating art, Harrington says that the process of filming his opus was frequently a struggle against Big Sur’s infamously rugged geography, especially for his leading man.

“We hiked Keith Decker through a river, up a mountain and practically rubbed poison oak in his face,” Harrington says. “To say he committed to this part is an understatement.”

Monday night’s screening is something of a thank you to the Big Sur community as a whole – specifically those whose donations of time, money and resources made the film possible. (Full disclosure: Longtime Big Sur resident and Weekly executive assistant Keely Richter is among the film’s producers.)

The celebration will also include a performance by Range of Light Wilderness.

The Henry Miller Library presents The Old Man and The Mountain Lion and Range of Light Wilderness on Monday, June 23 at 7pm. 48603 Highway 1, Big Sur. By donation. http://theoldmanandthemountainlion.wordpress.com.