Frozen Planet:Spring (Alastair Fothergill, 2011): US

Reviewed by Natanya Maskart. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For any animal lover this is a must see at the Santa Barbara film festival. The movie Frozen Planet: Spring, was a wonderful educational documentary on the most dramatic seasonal shift on this planet, the coming of spring in the arctic. This documentary followed many animals experiencing this change in seasons including Narwhals, Penguins, Elephants, Seals and Polar bears. If followed each animals journey through this extreme climactic and environmental shift and how each animal deals with the elements. All the animals deal with different kinds of issues and to see it on tape is amazing. One of the most entertaining to see was the penguins and the different things they do over the winter time. They are very interesting animals and do very funny things at times. Not only did i learn so much about the pangguins and the other animals but i also discovered and learned about an animal which i had never even heard of before called a Narwhal. A Narwhal is a whale from the Monodontidae family where the male whales are characterized by a Helic Tusk which they call it. In other words it is like a long stick such as a unicorn poking out of the top of there heads. This is something you will never see at sea world and was a treat to see in the film.

The documentary keeps you engaged and intrigued through the use of interesting camera angles one minute focusing in on the smallest of details and the next panning out to the bigger picture. The real footage that was shown of these animals in their natural state were so amazing and breathtaking. To see the Polar Bears with their cubs running through the ice to go find food is not something you see everyday or just the way the arctic sea changes over different periods of time and how it affects the animals and there way of life. For some animals these shifts in weather mean that they are at a high risk of danger and will have to struggle to stay alive.

Not only did this film show amazing images but was also accompanied by a soundtrack that was not over powering, yet seemed to blend in, almost as if the music itself would be playing in nature. The narration was informative and at time also very witty, giving the audience a few laugh. Frozen Planet: Spring was fascinating and enlightening because it showed an event that happens in our world year after year, that most people including myself have sever seen before. I think that these are things that we should all be familiar about since it is such a big effect on the a part of the world and the environmental changes that take place.

After watching this documentary, it raised the question in my mind , “what  else is going ion in the world that I have never seen before?’ and it made me hungry to see and learn more. The goal of any educational documentary should be to get the audience to be excited and eager about learning and needless to say. Frozen Planet did just that. If you enjoyed this film then i would highly recommend the other film which you could call part two of this film called Frozen Planet: On Thin Ice. This film reveals how scientists measure the changes in the different polar regions and what they mean for the animals and people who live in those places.

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Published:
02.15.12 / 8pm
Category:
Documentary, Films, Santa Barbara Film Festival 2012