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My ex-wife could never understand why I (the original couch potato) could never get enough of nature shows on TV. It was rather difficult to explain how fascinating I found the natural world, especially from the comfort of my own living room. And admittedly, some of those WILD KINGDOM episodes were kind of hokey. (I remember how betrayed I felt when I found out that Jim and Marlin had staged most of the good scenes and hadn’t actually ventured to the wilds of Africa or the Amazon. Maybe they were just couch potatoes at heart too.)
But French filmmaker, Jacques Perrin and crew are certainly the real deal. This breathtaking documentary is one that I would unqualifiedly recommend–to just about anyone. Even my “ex” called recently to let me know that this film had left her in tears. I found it equally moving, and plainly I wasn’t alone. In fact, when I saw it the whole theater burst into applause at the end.
As others have noted, the camera work on this film is awe inspiring. I have seen a few television docs with this kind of upclose footage before (I think maybe the EYEWITNESS series?), but none have sustained the effect for very long, and most don’t pack the emotional wallop of this film.
Between this film and the recent SPELLBOUND, I can see an expanding market for documentaries–at least the more unique and captivating ones. A great film for family viewing, although younger children may be upset by the depiction of some of nature’s (and mankind’s) harsher realities. Otherwise, a true must-see in a sea of only purported must-sees.
This 2001 award-winning documentary by Jacques Perrin certainly is unique. It’s a full 99 minutes of exquisite cinematography of migrating birds, some species flying as far as 12,500 miles each year. There are a few captions, which tell the name of the bird and the amount of mileage they fly in order to migrate. There’s also some light background music as well as natural sounds, and a few sentences, spoken by the director. Other than that, it’s only the birds, whose migratory patterns were followed for three years.
At the beginning of the film there’s a disclaimer informing the audience that there were no special effects were used. And so I sat there in wonder of how they were able to achieve all their shots. There’s the beauty of birds flying in formation, close up shots of them feeding their young, competing with each other, stopping to rest. And there’s one magnificent shot of fleeing an avalanche.
There are different species filmed in different areas of the world. We see the Artic Circle, the American Southwest, the industrial areas of Eastern Europe, the vast oceans, the skyline of cities and even a shot as they fly past the World Trade Center and the Statue of Liberty. We also see hunters whose gunfire brings sudden death as well as a bird with a broken wing who is attacked and devoured by crabs.
Here is nature, in all its power and glory. I sat there wide-eyed, taking it all in. And somehow, the petty concerns of my daily life seemed to fall into perspective.
Some people might find this film boring and I doubt if it will get wide distribution in theaters. It’s only playing in one theater in New York and, even in this densely populated city, there was a very sparse audience. I’m glad I was one of the people in that audience though because I loved every moment of the film would definitely see it again on DVD, especially if it had special features to describe how the cinematography was done.
Highly recommended.
