MicroCosmos
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MicroCosmos

1996, Nature  -   19 Comments
7.33
12345678910
Ratings: 7.33/10 from 40 users.

Utilizing special macroscopic photographic techniques, filmmakers Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perennou created this fascinating and visually spectacular look at the hidden worlds in the life cycle of an ordinary meadow in France. When seen through the lens of Nuridsany and Perennou's cameras, insects become gigantic beasts, blades of grass turn into towering monuments, and raindrops form puddles that resemble vast oceans.

The filmmakers find humor, drama, and beauty in the lives of these tiny flora and fauna as caterpillars transform themselves into butterflies, beetles struggle with their day's foraging, and snails reproduce their species. Microcosmos was a multiple prize winner at the 1996 French Academy of Cinema Awards; the American release version features narration by actress Kristin Scott Thomas.

The U.S. distributor of this movie has foolishly decided to market it as a kid's entertainment, in the apparent belief that no reasonable number of adults could possibly be interested, much less spellbound, by a beautifully written and narrated and vividly shot documentary about a fascinating and overlooked segment of the natural world.

In concept, content, and delivery, this title is heads and shoulders above the day-to-day fare regularly offered, and consumed by adults, on the cable television channels.

Directed by: Claude Nuridsany, Marie PĂ©rennou

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Shanna Thompson
Shanna Thompson
11 years ago

I love love love this movie!

suki blue
suki blue
11 years ago

i used to have an irrational fear of snails...it is completely gone...i can't wait to see one...more men should watch the snails and learn! ha ha...and the insect dude rising up from the water with the reflection in the water...f**cking amazing. i've watched it two days in a row downloading it now AND i want to order the dvd. would be fun to watch with people who haven't seen it and see their reactions....

Michael Danger Gee
Michael Danger Gee
11 years ago

Amazing, i like it how i dont understand the language, makes it even more alien to me! Our planet is fantastic, i hate this guilt i carry around all the time for being a destructive consumer human :(

Drazen Vojnovic
Drazen Vojnovic
12 years ago

incredibile !!!!!!!!!!!
master peace

minoas.info
minoas.info
12 years ago

absolutely amazing video.thanks for sharing this!!!!

Guest
Guest
12 years ago

Great doc. 5***** filming.

Kathleen Jane Wilson
Kathleen Jane Wilson
13 years ago

Absolutely fascinating!...i adore insects...and many documentaries...but this is like laying on you stomach actually there watching...due to the little music and words...I shall be passing this on to as many as a possible...Thanks <3

BuckOhFive4Freedom
BuckOhFive4Freedom
13 years ago

i agree Stevierae

stevierae
stevierae
13 years ago

wow would have been nice in english...

Kitt
Kitt
13 years ago

Gross..Get some bleach and some DDT and wipe these things out. I want white plaster walls, marble floors, sealed windows and no bugs. Exterminate. Just kidding...What a great documentary.

Nick_kcin
Nick_kcin
13 years ago

Wow I cant beleive that beetle superplexed the other one, that was an intense fight scene

Epicurean_Logic
Epicurean_Logic
13 years ago

yaaahh, there's something crawling up my leg. Oh sorry it just my leg hair blowing in the wind.

Visually overwhelming at times, breathtaking and endearing at others. It kinda reminded me of a microscopic version of Peter and the wolf.

I particularly liked the snails snogging and the ants kissing.

Weird and wonderful stuff.

Mok
Mok
14 years ago

i love these kinds of docs....

Vlatko, there was one that was a street address...wish i could remember, it should the micro world of a common house....i remember the battle between the father ad a house fly...truly awesome...think you could find that one?

Melinda
Melinda
14 years ago

Beautifully filmed..breathtaking. Definitely should not have been marketed as a 'kid's film'.

amicus curiae
amicus curiae
14 years ago

truly engrossing!
somewhere with an ecosystem left, how rare!
Monsanto hasn't found it ...yet!
this is what our bare sterile and dying paddocks used to look like, before pesticides and weedicides, and chem fertilizers killed them all off.
Mantises used to be common, now , I have seen 2 in 2 years!
Thank you for a little bit of beauty.