GREAT NATURE FILMS Karlo C.

Cleto

The world is a vast place, and for most people, the only way to visit places beyond our normal realm of living is through the movies. Film as an art form wields a power to document that is difficult to match in other mediums, and is thus arguably the most effective means of experiencing Earths natural wonders outside of actually running with the lions on the African savannah. STELLA takes a look at some of the most memorable films that have dealt with the topic of the natural world and mans place in it.

Earth (2009) A heartrending review of all that we have on this Earth and all that we stand to lose, the film, which was released in the US on Earth Day this year, follows three different families over the course of one year on their annual trek to find sustenance in a world gravely threatened by human activity. The film tracks the movement of three mothersa polar bear, an African elephant, and humpback whale as they lead their offspring to food and water. Along the way, they encounter firsthand the ill effects of mans growing demands on the planet. Only holograms will not be moved by this.

March of the Penguins (2005) Luc Jacquets stirring opus has been called many things, but above all it is a love story. In its exploration of the mating and family rituals of the emperor penguin, the film likens the awe-inspiring vastness of the natural world to the fortitude of true love. In this beautifully-photographed document, we see mother and father penguins meet, hook up, and then brave relentless blizzards, pitch black darkness, months without food, and miles of frigid seawater all for their unhatched eggs.

Never Cry Wolf (1983) Director Carroll Ballard has built a career on crafting subtle yet incredibly complex (and beautifully shot) dramas dealing with the eternal struggle between man and nature . Here he follows up his criticallyacclaimed The Black Stallion with a tale about a government biologist named Tyler who is sent out into the cold Yukon wilderness to determine whether feral wolves are behind the dwindling Caribou population in the area. As he spends more and more time in the wilds, Tyler develops a deep affection for his subject matter, finding further on that it is not the wolves that are behind the death of the Caribou but man. The cinematography here is epic, as is typical of Ballards films, providing a perfect showcase for the unspoiled beauty of the Yukon.

Fly Away Home (1996) Carroll Ballards knack for weaving affecting dramas about the crossing of humanity and nature is again on full display in this tale about a young girl named Amy who is made to live with her gonzo father after the death of her mother. When Amy decides to take in 12 orphaned goslings that she comes upon one day, she finds a suitable tonic for her wounded heart. The geese of course have to grow up, and when they do, Amy has to confront the tough decision of setting them free, devising a crazy plan to force her flock to fly south against seemingly overwhelming odds. Based on the autobiography by Bill Lishman and featuring gorgeous landscape photography by Caleb Deschanel , the movie is a reminder that love is for all, whatever creature one may happen to be.

Touching the Void (2004) This documentary tells the incredible story of two climbers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, who scaled the near-vertical western side of the 21,000-foot Siula Grande peak in the Peruvian mountain ranges in 1985. The two climbers successfully ascended the mountain in the Alpine Stylewhich allows minimum gear and provisions and no series of base camps. However, disaster struck on their way down when Simpson broke his right leg in the middle of a snowstorm. Yates then tied together two 150-foot pieces of rope which he used to lower Simpson, who had to stand on his good leg every 300 feet so Yates would have enough rope slack get the knot through the harness. When Simpson failed to give the signal at one point, Yates was forced to hold on for more than an hour, his strength rapidly fading in the biting cold. Unaware that he had mistakenly lowered Simpson to the edge of a crevasse, Yates finally made the decision to cut the rope to save his own life. Miraculously, Simpson survived the fall, going three days at the bottom of the crevasse without food. Touching the Void is a striking reminder that Mother Nature, for all her beauty and splendor, can be merciless if not given the proper respect.

Planet Earth (2007) This 12-part BBC/Discovery Channel-produced documentary takes a close look at the entirety of nature through the eye of a high definition camera. The series is divided into episodes that each feature a different type of landscape: "Living Planet," "Mountains," "Fresh Water," "Caves," "Deserts," "Frozen Worlds," "The Great Plains," "Forests," "Jungles," "The Shallow Seas," "Ocean Wide, Ocean Deep," and "Planet Earth - The Future. With a budget of over $25 million, and with over 40 camera men working in 200 different locales, the production is expectedly top notch. No other film before this has approached the topic of nature with so comprehensive a scope and with this much respect for the minute details. A fitting tribute to the natural wonders of the earth and all those that call it home.

Walkabout (1971) This Nicolas Roeg-directed cult favorite is a stylistically unconventional and profoundly disturbing film that treats the fantastic qualities of nature as a metaphor for emotional dislocation. The film makes use of striking juxtapositions of urban life with scenes of the untamed Australian outback in its exploration of various human themes, including cultural and communicational dissonance, and, in the words of the filmmaker, birth, death, mutability.At its simplest, the story is about two young children who are stranded in the outback, and who meet a young Aborigine boy. The young local is in the middle of a "walkabout", a six-month ritual wherein Aborigines learn to survive alone in the Australian wild. Unable to surmount the cultural gap, the three young ones never connect on a human level, even when their new companion meets the most tragic of ends. Roeg makes full use of his powers as a cinematographer here, lending a surreal, almost psychedelic quality to the Australian landscape.

Winged Migration (2003) This painstakingly assembled meta-documentary traces the migration patterns of several species of birds, most notably Canada geese. Using nearly 600 miles of footage to fill its 89 minutes, the film offers breathtaking aerial shots of the flocks in transit, as they cover incredible distances through all kinds of difficult weather. Shot over four years across seven continents, this award-winning film is a unique look at the avian race. As an added bonus, the soundtrack features performances from avant-rock greats Nick Cave and Robert Wyatt.

Encounters At the End of the World (2007) The great director Werner Herzogs long-standing fascination for people who choose to place themselves in extremely difficult and dangerous situations once again comes to the fore in this critically acclaimed meditation on the effects of the natural landscape on the human soul. Here, Herzog visits the McMurdo Station, the headquarters of the National Science Foundation in the South Pole and a selffashioned village for more than a thousand scientists and manual workers during the Antarctic summer.

Blue Planet (2001) This groundbreaking 8-part documentary series is a comprehensive survey of the underwater beneath the seas. Cutting edge film techniques take audiences up close and personal with the strange denizens of the deep. The series took five years to make with a crew of hundreds visiting over 200 locations. The series is structured so that each episode takes a different view of oceanography.

Life of Mammals (2003)

Naturalist David Attenboroughs third installment in his Life series is a 10-part documentary featuring breathtaking footage of a wide assortment of mammals in their natural habitat. The filmmaker concludes the survey with a poignant meditation on the effects of human activity on the natural world, saying, Three and a half million years separate the individual who left these footprints in the sands of Africa from the one who left them on the moon Using his burgeoning intelligence, this most successful of all mammals has exploited the environment to produce food for an ever-increasing population... In spite of disasters when civilisations have overreached themselves, that process has continued, indeed accelerated, even today. Perhaps the time has now come to put that process into reverse. Instead of controlling the environment for the benefit of the population, perhaps it's time we control the population to allow the survival of the environment.