Microcosmos

Art film or nature documentary?

With the use of custom cameras and lenses, specialized microphones, and a bit of controlled lighting, Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou captured the insect world at a scale not previously seen or even imagined. The result earned them five César awards (the French equivalent of the Oscar) including Best Editing, Sound, and Cinematography. But with barely a word of narration and no structure to speak of, Microcosmos is less so much a film than it is a lazy summer afternoon spent lying on the ground in a sunny meadow, watching and wondering about the private world of bugs. The buzzing of wings, the hypnotic motion of a centipede’s legs, the twitching of antennae and pincers as these tiny creatures navigate their day in gigantic proportions before us. Individual sequences stand out: a dung beetle struggling to move its ball past a stick, two snails languorously embracing to the strains of an operatic aria, giant raindrops falling from out of the sky. But then the film moves on to something new. Your children (and you) may be alternately fascinated, terrified, delighted and repulsed. Watch it on the biggest screen you can. —Chris Ereneta