MICROCOSMOS 1996
A film review by Timothy Voon
Copyright 1997 Timothy Voon
1 :-) for nature's ripe, succulent fullness
Director: Claude Nuridsany & Marie Perennou Written by: Claude Nuridsany, Marie Perennou, Hughes Ryffel, and Thierry Machado Cinematography: Claude Nuridsany & Marie Perennou Music: Bruno Coulais
I never thought an insect movie could be this thought provoking until I watched "Microcosmos". Let me explain.
An ant milks some aphids on a branch. Enter a ladybug who feeds on the aphids. The ant responds by knocking the ladybug of the branch. It tries to climb back on, but on it's travels bumps into another ladybug. They start copulating. My, my, the wonders of nature.
Here's another scenario. Remember snails, those slugs who wear a shell, and are frequently trampled on if not eaten at a French restaurant. Well, I've just learnt how they copulate. The sex was elegantly set to the moving music of Opera. I'm not sure how to explain this, but it's like velcro. I'm beginning to understand why it must have taken directors Nuridsany and Pernnou so long to film this movie. Although, they could have helped the process along by let's say sticking the snails together, but you'd have fingers in the way, and that can really spoil the mood. At least fifteen years of research hasn't gone down the drain, we have this glorious footage of snails forever petrified in our minds and on film. Ya gotta see it ta believe it.
It's not all about sex, even though much of nature is interconnected with reproduction. We have a narrator Kristin Scott Thomas who speaks a few words at the beginning and at the end of the movie. She does much better here than in "The English Patient". There are lots of other insects who scurry and flutter about the screen like busy human beings. The most memorable performances are from a dung beetle with a problematic dung ball; hardworking ants busy at work gathering food for the winter months; a pheasant who makes a Godzilla entrance before terrorising the ants; a thunderstorm in the middle of the day reminiscent of an air raid; and an ending which deserves more that a swat and "damned mosquito".
This movie was so profound and meditational that I could have slept through it, but I didn't. Educational to say the least, but I longed for violence let's say between the wasps and the bees, or the preying mantis and the black widow spider, or the ants vs. the termites. Oh by the way, if you've ever stuck a hose into an ant hole, then turned it on - don't do it again, cause all their food supplies are down there. :-)
Timothy Voon e-mail: stirling@netlink.com.au
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