Monday 9 September 2013

REVIEW - MORE THAN HONEY


An outstanding documentary. It is informative, as documentaries naturally strive to be, and it is also - fundamentally - a considerable artistic achievement. It's one thing, and normally nothing remarkable, to be moved by emotion. It's another to be moved by craft, by the technical qualities that a film possesses. Such is the intense beauty of these images, the incredible clarity and intimacy with which they are captured, ditto the breathtakingly detailed sound design, that More Than Honey is a rapturous experience. Director Markus Imhoof has accessed our hearts via our heads, and so satisfies all of one's needs and wants as a viewer. His film is essentially a biopic of an entire species, and his evident respect for this species (bees, by the way) informs not the information that he elects to impart but the style in which he imparts it. It's mere moments in that you may develop enormous admiration for these surprisingly intelligent, efficient, diligent creatures. In the process, Imhoof unmasks a villain: you. The extent to which we have exploited these animals is so great that you may feel sympathy for their kind as they effect their swift, spiteful retaliation. We forget that, as we subject other species to the laws of humankind, we too are subjected to the laws of nature, whether willingly or not. Glittering cinematography captures images of singular fineness, and the sensitive soundscape is enhanced by a beautiful musical score, which is even set to the key of the bees' buzzing at times, and that is an indicatively exquisite touch to this wonderful film.

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