Microcosmos (1996)

This is How Movies Should Be Made

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The word 'insect' in the minds of most people brings about images of destructive, disease-carrying 'bugs', flies, maggots, cockroaches. But if Microcomos does anything, it reminds me that there are hundreds of thousands of constructive insects that are simply beautiful.The directors of this film spent a number of years using microscopic cameras to capture breathtaking images of hundreds of insects in their natural habitat (in this case, a meadow in France). They select just the right music for a scene in which a pheasant who attacks and ant colony. Two snails seem locked in some time of embrace, a ladybug tries to take off but has a little trouble getting off the ground.'Microcosmos' fits the category of a documentary. But depending on how you take the behavior of these amazing creatures its a love story (two snails who seem deeply in love), a war movie (two beetles lock in moral struggle), a child-birth film (several insects giving birth), a disaster movie (a rainstorm in which the drops seem like a meteor storm) and a monster movie (a pheasant that attacks an ant colony). I sometimes felt like and interloper peering down into their lives in their most intimate moments.I saw a movie a few years back called 'The Scent of Green Papaya' which contained a scene of a curious little girl squatted down on the ground smiling as she watched a colony of ants at work. I wondered about that and when I saw 'Microcosmos' I felt that I had a ringside seat at what had captivated her.

I saw the English version, as a streaming Netflix video in Hi-Def. It is narrated by Kristin Scott Thomas, but really there are only a few sentences at the beginning, and even less at the end. The vast middle of the movie has no narration, only appropriate music as we are left to observe the miniature world. The picture is superb, as it has to be.There is no plot to the "story", and it doesn't attempt to encompass all of the miniature world of insects. It simply gives us, the viewers, a series of brief glimpses into their everyday world.We see ants busily moving a variety of grain into their tunnels. In a different clip we see a colorful bird, perhaps a Pheasant, busily pecking and eating ants who have no clue as to "protection".We see a spider and its web, and how it uses the web to wrap up a small grasshopper that happens to jump into captivity.We see a mighty struggle, a battle, between two large beetles. And in another clip, a Dung Beetle working mightily to successfully roll its ball of dung to its burrow.Plus many, many more small critters.The image saved for last is an impressive one, we see what looks like a giant sea monster rising slowly out of the water, and when it is over we realize it is a mosquito emerging from its larval state and then flying away.A wonderful viewing experience for anyone who is at all fascinated by the miniature world around us.

I watched it for 20 minutes then pressed eject because I was bored... then I came back and watched the rest of it. The year is now 2006 and this documentary was made in 1996. But watching the DVD looks like it was shot in high-def with the most modern camera. It's crystal clear. I would recommend this even though it starts out boring. There is very little narration, which is kind of nice. I laughed so hard in one scene... a dung-beatle is pushing his find along and it gets stuck. He finally figures out how to get it unstuck. There are so many interesting scenes. Another one shows a spider building a large bubble under-water by going to get air several times and bring more air to make the under-water bubble larger. Lots of interesting things just like that. It kind of makes insects look cute.

Microcosmos is a non-narrative film, concentrating on insect life in fields and ponds. The film contains very little dialogue.There are only a few lines of speech in the whole film.At the beginning, and toward the end.There are numerous,frequently used, camera effects such as slow motion, time-lapse e.t.c.Much is filmed outdoors,however some of the camera obviously done in a studio.The music that runs the full course of the film, adds to the overall feel of the film.