The Private Life of Plants (1995– )

David Attenborough's study of the world of plants, which demonstrates, with the aid of time-lapse photography, the rich and varied ways in which they flourish.

Stars:

David Attenborough

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
David Attenborough	...	Presenter (6 episodes, 1995)

Storyline

David Attenborough's study of the world of plants, which demonstrates, with the aid of time-lapse photography, the rich and varied ways in which they flourish.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 January 1995 (UK)

Also Known As:

A növények magánélete

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Turner Broadcasting System (TBS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

292 min 48 min (6 parts) 292 min (6 parts)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Himself - Host: Ever since we arrived on this planet as a species, we've cut them down, dug them up, burnt them and poisoned them. Today we're doing so on a greater scale than ever... We destroy plants at our peril. Neither we nor any other animal can survive without them. The time has now come for us to cherish our green inheritance, not to pillage it - for without it, we will surely perish.

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Connections

Follows Life on Earth (1979)

User Reviews

Breathtaking

This is one of the most arresting nature productions that i've seen by sir David Attenborough or by anyone else.

The visual information alone is outstanding. The cinematography is of a most superb quality. The high-speed sequences reveal to the viewer a time scale to which we humans, who live like a blur by comparison, are all too oblivious. The motion of the plants is enough to earn this series high value. But it is not all.

The eloquent flowing commentary, as customary with sir David's other series, is rich with information and startling observations offering deeper insight into the ingenuity of the engineering built into our planet's biosphere.

As technological achievements, the systems found in plants are extremely good at efficient clean energy production. An observation that is not missed by sir David attenborough.

The choice of subjects was also gratifying for their interest aesthetic or otherwise. I felt there was no want of beautiful specimens or exotic beings that behave in ways I never imagined plants would.

This series enriches any collection or shelf it joins.

I give it a nine, however, rather than a ten, because of a few things characteristic of BBC nature productions. Among them is the soundtrack. Too often, the score becomes distracting or sometimes even presumptuous in relation to the subject matter it accompanies. Perhaps it is a matter of direction. As with other series, like "the blue planet", the score sometimes just gets overbearing. Nonetheless, the score itself here is very good and does complement the subject well on more than one occasion. I also missed more reference to aspects of the life of plants, such as more minute detail, but i guess any production is bound by limits of budget and time (this one took years to produce). All in all, these matters are dwarved by the high quality of this series.