Originally posted on sciy.org by Ron Anastasia on Wed 23 May 2007 07:36 PM PDT
KEVIN KELLY
Life in the Undergrowth
Amazing! Astounding! Utterly cool. Hi-tech photography makes this the best David Attenborough nature series ever. The subject is earth's invertebrates, or in other words, the creepy crawly things that fill the woods, bushes and undergrowth. Insects, spiders and their kin. The diversity of these beings is vast, and their bizarre stories untold. Attenborough and the BBC spend a lot of money and time traipsing around the world using really cool infrared cameras to see at night, or pinhole cameras to see up close, or ultra-fast cameras to catch wings flapping. The view they capture of these unnoticed critters is absolutely stunning. They invert the usual view of bugs by filming them from their level or below. It turns out that when you can place your camera so that you literally look up to an ant while seeing it in its environment, then you look up to it with new respect. The bugs seem more like the animals they really are. When all their hairs, scales, and whiskers are visible, their true animal nature can be seen. As usual Attenborough's very biological organization of what you see and his crisp insights make this journey unforgettable and an instant classic. I've seen it twice already.
-- KK
Life in the Undergrowth
By David Attenborough
2005, 250 min.
$26, DVD, 2-disc set
Rentable from Netflix
Available from Amazon
Posted on April 13, 2008 at 08:00 PM
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