MICROCOSMOS
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 8.0 Alternative Scale: ***1/2 out of ****
France, 1996 U.S. Release Date: beginning 10/96 (limited) Running Length: 1:17 MPAA Classification: G Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Director: Claude Nuridsany & Marie Perennou Producers: Christophe Barratier, Yvette Mallet, Jacques Perrin Written by: Claude Nuridsany, Marie Perennou, Hughes Ryffel, and Thierry Machado Cinematography: Claude Nuridsany & Marie Perennou Music: Bruno Coulais U.S. Distributor: Miramax Films
MICROCOSMOS is a delightful little documentary -- emphasis on little. This film offers a view into a world more bizarre than anything depicted in the most special effects-intensive science fiction. Intrigued? Well, if not, you will be once you start watching MICROCOSMOS, Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perennou's fascinating portrait of life "beyond anything we could imagine, and yet almost beneath our notice."
MICROCOSMOS literally has a cast of thousands -- insects, that is. Beetles, ants, bees, wasps, dragonflies, butterflies, snails, mosquitoes, darning needles, and dozens of other assorted bugs fill the screen, going about their everyday chores. They build nests, find food, pollinate flowers, battle over territory, and procreate. For viewers with spiritual inclinations, there's a fair amount of quasi-religious imagery: mantises that pray and bugs that walk on water.
The microscopic drama of MICROCOSMOS is surprisingly engrossing, primarily because of the exquisite detail of the photography. Nuridsany and Perennou's cameras take us from normal-scale overviews of their locale deep into the world of the insects, where blades of grass are as tall as houses, trees are unimaginably large, and lakes become oceans. Everything is shown up close and personal, with a level of clarity and intimacy never previously obtained in nature films.
Although no people are ever shown, nor is there any indication of their presence (the specially-created cameras take us closer to the ground than any eye could get), there is a human voice in MICROCOSMOS. It belongs to Kristin Scott-Thomas, who gives short, unnecessary introductory and closing statements. In between, the only noises we hear are the whirs, buzzes, and chirps of the starring creatures. That's over an hour of nothing but the sounds of nature.
MICROCOSMOS uses time lapse photography to speed along certain slow processes -- a caterpillar inching its way along a branch, a vine snaking skywards, blossoms opening, and a sundew enveloping its helpless victim. There are a few cameos by non-insects as well. We see a pheasant attack an ant colony with predictably disastrous results for the tiny warriors. Then there's a frog who chooses a group of water bugs for an afternoon snack.
Transpiring in a specially created "field studio" in Aveyron, France, MICROCOSMOS took three years to film and six months to edit, but the results more than justify the necessary time, effort, and patience. At only seventy-seven minutes, this is one of the shortest movies of 1996, but it offers some of the most unique images, surpassing the fine LEOPARD SON with its perspective of life in the wild. After watching MICROCOSMOS, it will be impossible to take a walk in the woods without being aware of the amazing tapestry of activity going on all around, yet out of sight.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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