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MicroCosmos
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Utilizing special macroscopic photographic techniques, filmmakers Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perennou created this fascinating and visually spectacular look at the hidden worlds in the life cycle of an ordinary meadow in France. When seen through the lens of Nuridsany and Perennou's cameras, insects become gigantic beasts, blades of grass turn into towering monuments, and raindrops form puddles that resemble vast oceans. The filmmakers find humor, drama, and beauty in the lives of these tiny flora and fauna as caterpillars transform themselves into butterflies, beetles struggle with their day's foraging, and snails reproduce their species. Microcosmos was a multiple prize winner at the 1996 French Academy of Cinema Awards; the American release version features narration by actress Kristin Scott Thomas. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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JimBellJimBell Microcosmos
by JimBell in JimBell Blog
loved it.
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"Microcosmos is a close look at insect life in a French meadow. As the film concludes: “Beyond our imagination, yet almost beneath our notice.” Whenever a film can open your eyes to a new world, it is worth watching. This film does that with excellent photography, no intrusive commentary, and plenty of drama. There’s the birth of butterflies, and the death of a bee in a fly-trap. There’s sex between snails, and incubation in hives. There’s a violent duel between two " [More]
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Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
liked it.
Microcosmos is light years beyond mere insect documentary, envisioning the daily existence of these tiny creatures as the stuff of full-blown opera. The unprecedented close-ups transform the mundane into the epic; the audience practically cheers after a scarab beetle succeeds at pushing his ball of dung up a hill, and swoons watching two snails entwined in a loving embrace. The augmentation of sounds also has visceral impact, as a pheasant picks off ants with the repetitive boom of a staple gun striking the earth. Intensifying this visual and aural odyssey is a gripping score, as well as narration (by Kristin Scott Thomas in the English version) that's both refreshingly scant and elegantly poetic. Because they mean this as breathtaking visual stimulus rather than teaching tool, directors Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perennou don't need to clog up the wonder with needless exposition. That raindrops are like traumatic bomb strikes to these tiny creatures is obvious; no disembodied egghead needs to spell things out. The viewer will simply gape at the grand dramas that unfold, prompting them to wonder just how many hours of footage the directors shot before mounting this compilation of elegiac moments. It's a truly groundbreaking technical achievement. Since it doesn't take much to get them interested in creepy-crawlies to begin with, children should love Microcosmos, even if its ambitions are artsier than they can comprehend. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
 

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MovieJay
MovieJay
loved it.
Kim_Kelly
Kim_Kelly
loved it.
JimBell
JimBell
loved it.
cwatts
cwatts
lost interest.