Microcosmos (1996)

A documentary on insect life in meadows and ponds.

Directors:

Claude Nuridsany, Marie Pérennou

Writers:

Claude Nuridsany, Marie Pérennou

Stars:

Kristin Scott Thomas, Jacques Perrin

8 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jacques Perrin	...	Récitant / Narrator (French version) (voice)
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Narrator (English version) (voice)

Storyline

A documentary of insect life in meadows and ponds, using incredible close-ups, slow motion, and time-lapse photography. It includes bees collecting nectar, ladybugs eating mites, snails mating, spiders wrapping their catch, a scarab beetle relentlessly pushing its ball of dung uphill, endless lines of caterpillars, an underwater spider creating an air bubble to live in, and a mosquito hatching.

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Plot Keywords:

meadow | spider | insect | slow motion | underwater | 

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Taglines:

It's Jurassic Park in your own back yard.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

France Switzerland Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

6 September 1996 (Switzerland)

Also Known As:

Microcosmos

Filming Locations:

Monts et Lacs du Lévézou, Aveyron, France

Box Office

Budget:

CHF 5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$35,189, 13 October 1996, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,573,842, 2 February 1997

Company Credits

Production Co:

Galatée Films, France 2 Cinéma, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min 75 min (Miramax)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed over a period of three years.

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Crazy Credits

In the end credits: Le Conseil Général de L'Aveyron and SIVOM des Monts et Lacs du Lévezou extend the adventure in the world of insects at the Jean-Henri Fabre Center of Saint-Léons in Lévezou, opening in 1998.

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Connections

Referenced in Phénomania: La marche de l'empereur (2005)

User Reviews

Up Close And Personal - With Insects!

This is a French-made nature film that features a lot of closeup photography. Much of that footage is amazing stuff. How they got closeups that sharp on these insects is a tribute to the camera lenses available today and the expertise and patience of the photographers.

Some of the shots are so close that, at first, you don't know what insect you're seeing. Other insects are not familiar ones you'd recognize, anyway. Some are really strange-looking.

The colors, the wild shapes and actions of these creatures all make a for a fascinating movie in parts, one that literally all ages should enjoy, as the cliché goes. I found, however, that with no dialog, it was tough to watch more than 30 minutes at one time. You might want to break this up into two or three segments. There is sound, however: the sound these insects make. With the camera-work, it makes you feel as if you, too, were a small object on the ground listening to these strange sounds.

Obviously, this is a unique film and highly recommended.