On June 5th, 2009 – World Environment Day – Home set a record for the biggest simultaneous release ever, reaching 191 countries via the cinema, on TV, on DVD and via the Internet on five continents. Directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, whose photographs of the world from the air became a bit of sensation a few years ago, Home sees him take his project onto film, travelling to 50 different countries in order to take astonishing images of our planet from above.
There’s little doubt that the film captures some utterly captivating images, with the in-the-air perspective giving a different view of the world than you’d normally ever see. Whether it’s looking down on elephants wading through marshes, river systems that look like some sort of alien landscape or the strange fractal shapes of algal blooms, it’s utterly gorgeous to look at. As you’d expect, with the images originally captured in HD, they look incredibly sharp and bright on Blu-ray, with the extra clarity bringing a whole new dimension to the scope and majesty of the images.
The film is split into three sections, the first looks at the beauty of the world, moving onto how humanity had impacted on the environment, before finishing with ways it might be possible make to things better. Visually it works extremely well, bringing to mind the likes of Koyaanisqatsi and Baraka, with their knack for taking you to places you’ve never been before and showing the world in new ways. It’s stunningly beautiful, and purely in terms of the imagery gives a great sense of both the splendour of the world and the impact we have on it.
Less successful however is the commentary, voiced by Glenn Close. Rather than allowing the images to speak for themselves, there’s a constant stream of talking that tends to overpower what you’re watching. It would be okay if it were giving you interest info about what you’re seeing, but it’s largely a series of homilies and didactic rants about how we’re destroying the Earth.
That would be fine, we are polluting the Earth hideously, but I fail to see how Glenn Close spending 75 minutes poncily telling us the obvious is going to help, especially as so much of what she has to say is either pretty much meaningless or so generic it seems hardly worth mentioning, especially as there’s so much more that could be said that would have a far greater impact. The images alone speak far more powerfully about the devastation of the environment that the narration does.
It’s all done in a way where you’re actually told very little information, with the result that anyone who already believes in changes our ways and stopping global warming will have their idea backed up, while those don’t will find absolutely nothing to change their mind. It’s the equivalent of asking why something is bad, and the answer being ‘because it is’, without ever anyone actually telling us why.
The only time the narration really comes into its own is in the last 15 minutes, when the documentary moves into ways we can actually change our ways. Here it finds practical solutions to both show us and tell us about, as well as engendering hope for the future if we go changing how we do things. It’s just a shame Glenn Close has to keep jabbering on in such an intrusive and pointless way beforehand.
It really does get to the point where I’d have recommend watching the movie with the sound off, because then it’s utterly mesmerising, with the HD pictures almost bursting off the screen.
The release also comes with a 30 minutes ‘making of...’ documentary looking at the complex logistics of filming Home.
Overall Verdict: Gorgeous photography that gives us a different and captivating viewpoint on the planet. If only Glenn Close could just shut up.
Special Features:
‘Making Of...’ Documentary
Reviewer: Tim Isaac
