Film Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Microcosmos
Directed by Claude Nuridsany, Marie Pérennou
Buena Vista Home Entertainment 10/96 DVD/VHS Documentary
G

Time seems to move at a different pace in the teeming world of bugs. This immense and fascinating universe is explored in Microcosmos directed by French biologists Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perennou. The focus of this innovative documentary is one day in a French countryside meadow. We zoom down into the grass and witness a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. Insects on stems of flowers look like high-wire artists. We witness snails copulating, ants scurrying to escape being eaten by a pheasant, a spider capturing grasshoppers in its web, and the birth of a mosquito.

Nature as a backdrop for these happenings is sometimes peaceful and sometimes terrifying. A thunderstorm during which rain violently pelts our new circle of friends is especially scary. Microcosmos is a fascinating film with extraordinary camera work and a fine musical score by Bruno Coulais.

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat