Microcosmos: Le peuple de l'herbe

Microcosmos: Le peuple de l'herbe (1996) is a French film that uses close-up and time-delay photography to show the lives of insects and plants and other forms of life in the countryside. The film is beautifully photographed. There is only enough narration to place the film in context. For the most part the film is not narrated. Thus we rarely recognize the creatures we are seeing or learn anything about them. Most of their actions are clear enough--mating, eating, moving along the ground or the stems of plants. Photographs do speak for themselves, but this is mainly because they use images--human forms, for instance—that we can recognize and understand, at least to some extent. In the case of insects and other small creatures, the ignorance of viewers can be an obstacle to full appreciation of the images. Beauty by itself is insufficient. Beauty with some explanation would be an improvement over the mute images we have here.

I suppose one of the points of the film is that life in whatever form it takes is miraculous and impressive. The soundtrack to the film does not always contribute in a positive way. It can be distracting. It occasionally involves music or sounds that do not match the images displayed (in one scene, a woman is heard faintly singing in the background).

I enjoyed the parts of Microcosmos that I did not sleep through. Had the film given names and meanings to the creatures it so beautifully displays, it would have had greater interest and significance.