Winged Migration (2001)

Great

Who amongst us has not dreamt of flying under our own power? Despite a century of airplanes there is still nothing akin to winging off into the blue, crannying through small openings in trees, scaling sheer cliff faces. Never before has the idea of real bird-like flight been so perfectly expressed on film as it has in director Jacques Perrin's masterful documentary film Winged Migration. Naysayers have decried the film is not a documentary because many of the birds were raised from birth, then trained to obey humans, bonded to them for they were the 1st things the birds saw after birth, called imprinting), so they're not `really' wild animals. Another objection is that the film, on several occasions, intersperses computer graphics with the `authentic' documentary sequences.
These objections are bushwah- this film is 1 of the most unique & exhilarating pieces of film- documentary or not- ever made. It goes & we see them interact in ways never not just seen before, but not really imagined. Yet, despite how informative it is the film is really about how birds live, in an interior sense. Most people watching this film will have ideas that birds migrate, are sensitive to earth's electromagnetic fields, & acutely aware of the seemingly most trivial landmarks, but it's when the film focuses in on a species or flock that we realize that all the birds are individual. Unlike the Alfred Hitchcock film, The Birds, these creatures are not mindless automata. Because they are not as sophisticated as humans does not mean they do not possess a high degree of sophistication, & 1 might even argue bird culture. Mating dances, flight patterns, hunting routines, are all delineated in detail, & we see the travails & triumphs of groups, even as some individuals fall prey to death in its myriad forms- human hunters, industrial waste, other birds, & in a particularly chilling scene a bird with a broken wing who is pursued on a beach by a horde of voracious sand crabs.
Of course, being a documentary there is not a real plot, we just follow the different flocks through the course of a year. What intrigues is how the footage got so close to the birds? Some was taken while flying in ultra-light aircrafts, the noise of which the birds were made accustomed to while still in their eggs. Other footage was culled from hot air balloons & some from ground vehicles. Regardless of its provenance the visuals dazzle far more than any cyberworld can. Take your faraway worlds & galactic rides- give me this earth, this view, this way! Thankfully, there is very little narration- just enough to inform of a plight, but not enough to drone on irrelevantly.
September 24, 2008

Great Cinematography

9/12/08 Having started with "selections" (e.g. #21 "The Amazon"), I had an opportunity to see many bird species I'd not seen before..the DVD's Promotion Jacket of "Winged Migrations" was its selling point for me..I was a little disappointed, when viewing the DVD, that it differed so much from any other cinematography video, I've seen. I'm guessing that Perrin just had so many sights and sounds that he & crew wanted to present, especially for "seasoned bird watchers" ,that it was not possible to be "all things to all people".Narrations can truly enhance documentaries..however, "Winged Migration" does have "an extra",: an insert in with the DVD,listing the (1-24)scenes,giving the average uninformed bird watching viewer, a hint that it best be viewed via selections (e.g. #9[Bald Eagle]..#10[Canada Goose] vs "see it all at one time" really lengthy viewing of approx. 89 minutes ". 9/12/2008 abj September 12, 2008

Amazing sights and beauty

This is a spectacular view of the beauty and strength of birds as they migrate from one area to another. The close-up shots of the birds and the extras showing how the birds were raised to be unafraid of the film crew and other humans was fantastic in its own right. This is a treat for the eyes and ears! September 8, 2008

Beauty on the Wing

I wasn't sure what to expect of this film, recommended by a friend. It started slowly and at first I thought it was going to be slow and a low budget also ran. But it quickly got into its main theme, the migration of birds worldwide. Although the film hasn't got the power of some documentaries, the delight for me was the amazing filming. You are literally flying with the birds over the most stunning countryside, wing beat by wing beat. How this was done without the noise of helicopters or of planes flying alongside I don't know. But you can hear the whistle of wind and the sound of the wings beating the air.

So if being able to observe living creatures in this way awakes wonder in you, this is a film to watch. August 16, 2008

Sometimes the simplest things can't be beat

Jacques Perrin's filmmaking team spent four years creating a masterpiece out of one of the most basic elements of our natural world - the seasonal migration of birds. The result is nothing short of a riveting film.

Cynics might ask how anyone can be spellbound by watching the simple act of birds flying from one place to another. The answer is that sometimes the simplest, most basic art is the most enjoyable. Just as a great artist or sculptor can make a masterpiece out of the basic human form, a film can become great just by focusing on what we see everyday and making us appreciate it in an entirely new way.

Suffice it to say that any viewer of this movie will never look at birds the same way again.

Tracking various species of migratory birds across each continent, "Winged Migration" uses revolutionary camera work and understated narration/exposition to achieve wondrous effects. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to fly in formation with migrating geese, go fishing like a pelican, or soar with bald eagles, "WM" will give you the answer. Using a self-invented flying contraption, the cameramen were able to get right into birds flying in formation in dizzying shots. This is tremendous work.

With "March of the Penguins" and "Planet Earth," we are in a golden age of nature-documentaries. "Winged Migration" belongs in the top-tier of this fascinating genre.

Full disclosure - a couple of scenes will be tough for kids (e.g., crabs hunting down a bird with a broken wing, a baby penguin getting munched by other birds, etc.). These scenes are handled tastefully, but might require some comforting of the youngsters. August 16, 2008

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