4/16/2005: Views: Winged Migration
Winged Migration 2001, dir. Jacques Perrin
This is simply an amazing film that showcases various migratory birds on their twice-yearly flights of one to two thousand miles or more. If that sounds dry and boring, look again. Not only is the movie beautifully photographed with very little narration, but much of it is filmed from within the flock in flight.
We travel with geese, ducks, swans, cranes, eagles, pelicans, albatrosses, penguins, and storks through cities, countryside, desert, tundra, rivers, glaciers, and forests. Along the way we run into local songbirds, colorful macaws in the Amazon jungle, some super-overpopulated nesting grounds, and a handful of people. Locations range from majestic natural scenery to filthy industrial zones, and even a warship at sea.
Far from boring, the birds' behaviors range from elegant to comical (with a few casualties along the way) as they're seen foraging or hunting, dancing, courting, raising their young, and flying.. always flying.
View clips: geese in flight - grebes dance
The movie begins by saying "No special effects were used in the filming of the birds" so I kept asking "how did they do that?" while flying alongside the flocks, sometimes just inches away. The "Making Of" included on the DVD provides the answer - and it's an astounding process! I won't give it away here - guess as you watch - but the "Making Of" is every bit as good as the movie, and in some ways, it's even better.
The stunning visuals are accompanied by a complementary and unobtrusive soundtrack from Bruno Coulais, with performances by Andrew Wyatt, Nick Cave, A Filetta, and the Bulgarka Quartet, among others.
Winged Migration took four years and over 500 people to make. Jacques Perrin describes himself on the audio commentary track as more producer than director, since he had 2 co-directors (Jacques Cluzaud and Michel Debats) and 14 photography directors. Over 240 hours of film were shot, but we're treated to the best: we get bird's eye views (literally) of locations on every continent, with incredible sights of glaciers breaking off into the sea, avalanches, impossible cliffs, rainforest canopies, and more. The stunning photography throughout rivals that of the Koyaanisqatsi trilogy.
It's coincidence that I watched this just after posting my rant about unoriginality in movies, but Winged Migration is a beautiful example of what film is capable of being, given some creativity, vision, and hard work.
