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December 2008 ... Animals in Love Laurent Charbonnier loves his birds. It’s very apparent in his stunning documentary-cum-loving-tribute Les Animaux Amoureux (known as Animals in Love for English-speaking audiences), which portrays the courtship and mating rituals of dozens of mammals, a few insects, some sea-dwellers, and a lot of birds. Apparently 170 species were filmed, but only 80 made it to the final cut. The film took two years to make and was shot in over 16 countries. There were 80 hours of rushes (raw footage) and the crew shot in temperatures as low as 30 below and as high as 50 degrees Celsius. Those numbers indicate hardened dedication. It pays off; Animals in Love is an extraordinary visual document of the weird and wonderful ways the earth’s beasts and creatures make love, and I mean that in the broadest sense of the term. This is not an animal blue movie, although there is the occasional display of genitalia and a couple of instances of the male mounting the female (hilarious are the apes with the female acting utterly bored while he tries for missionary position whilst the couple are seated on a branch!). Despite these examples this is a doco you can take the kids to; it’s rated G, although you’ll most likely be answering countless questions way past their bedtime and more over breakfast the following morning. Laurent Charbonnier was previously a cinematographer on a French doco called The Travelling Birds (aha!). He’s made the smooth transition to director and smartly he chooses to have almost the entire film free of any voice-over. I say almost. Bookending the film is an insipid piece of pseudo-poetic drivel trying to capture some kind of literary-angled overview on the beauty of animal courtship. There was absolutely no need for it. Perhaps if it had been the original French with subtitles it might have seemed less obvious, less pretentious, but the English-language version is dire.Thankfully it doesn’t last very long. There doesn’t appear to be much rhyme or reason to the editing either, we linger with some species much longer than others, and we frequently come back to birds. There are, of course, dozens of Big Name animals you’re expecting to see, but curiously, it’s back to the birds. But don’t get me wrong, the birds are fascinating, and their mating rituals and love technique are, arguably, more intriguing and outlandish than most non-winged animals. One moment you’re jaw drops as you marvel at the colour on display, then you’re laughing out loud at the foppishness of some creatures, the absurdity of others, and the downright bizarre nature of many. It makes humans look positively uninspired when it comes to pulling out the stops in the act of attracting a suitable mate. Animals, it appears, employ remarkable ingenuity, audacity and determination in the pursuit of a mate … and they don’t have to listen to corny lines or accept cheap bubbly. Composer Philip Glass provides a very Glassy score, but it fits the flighty, repetitive nature of the documentary; all those squawks, roars, screeches, hoots and chatters are contrasted with the stylised flourishes of Glass’s soundtrack. While not as effortlessly poetic and affecting as The March of the Penguins with its melancholy and grandeur, Animals in Love is still a beautifully evocative and memorable film with its own distinct sense of awe and wonder. As a human-free montage of the crazy-cute behaviour
of seduction Animals in Love is a definitive statement. Treat yourself
to this unique creature feature and feel the love.
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