Il était une forêt

Name: Il était une forêt
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2013-11-13
Duration: 1 h 18 min
Rating: 6.7
Cast: Francis Hallé, Michel Papineschi

20132013
1h 18m

6.7/10

614

Documentary

From the creators of March of the Penguins and The Fox and the Child. Written and directed by Luc Jaquet, Once Upon a Forest invites the spectator into a never-before-seen world of natural w... Read allFrom the creators of March of the Penguins and The Fox and the Child. Written and directed by Luc Jaquet, Once Upon a Forest invites the spectator into a never-before-seen world of natural wonder and staggering beauty. For the first time, we will be able to watch a rainforest gro... Read allFrom the creators of March of the Penguins and The Fox and the Child. Written and directed by Luc Jaquet, Once Upon a Forest invites the spectator into a never-before-seen world of natural wonder and staggering beauty. For the first time, we will be able to watch a rainforest growing before our eyes. Drawing on a vast fund of research and knowledge, Once Upon a Forest... Read all

6.7/10

614

Director
- Luc Jacquet
Writers
- Luc Jacquet
- Francis Hallé(original idea)
Stars
- Francis Hallé
- Michel Papineschi(voice)

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination

Add image

Francis Hallé

Selfas Self

Michel Papineschi

Narratoras Narrator
(voice)

Director
- Luc Jacquet
Writers
- Luc Jacquet
- Francis Hallé(original idea)
All cast & crew
See more cast details at IMDbPro

6.8

Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq

6.9

Antarctica: Ice and Sky

Once Upon a Time in Forest

8.0

7.7

6.8

6.7

5.8

5.8

From the creators of March of the Penguins and The Fox and the Child. Written and directed by Luc Jaquet, Once Upon a Forest invites the spectator into a never-before-seen world of natural wonder and staggering beauty. For the first time, we will be able to watch a rainforest growing before our eyes. Drawing on a vast fund of research and knowledge, Once Upon a Forest will lead viewers on a journey into the depths of the tropical jungle, into the very heart of life on earth. For years, Luc Jacquet has spellbound audiences worldwide with his intimate yet spectacular stories of the natural world. His encounter with pioneering botanist and ecologist Francis Hallé was to give birth to this extraordinary exploration of the prehistoric rainforests, the great green lungs of our planet. Once Upon a Forest offers this unique voyage into a completely untamed universe, a world of perfect balance in which each living thing - from the smallest to the largest - plays an essential role. The film will deliver a complete sensory immersion in the primeval splendour of one of nature's richest mysteries, inviting the audience to enter, discover and marvel at a universe of untold treasures while joining its voice to the ever growing awareness of the need to preserve our world. —Anonymous

ant wild animal animal tree tropical forest 1 more

Genre
- Documentary
Parents guide
- Add content advisory

Soundtracks
Upon a Forest
Music and Lyrics by Emily Loizeau
Performed by Emily Loizeau

Top review

7/10

An above-average documentary about the growth of rainforests

The world of nature documentary films is riddled with aimless, uninformative visual feasts. Even the high-budget ones often fall prey to this purposelessness.

This documentary has the noble distinction of following a subject closely : the phases of tropical rainforest growth. It approaches the main concepts and gives interesting examples along the way. However, the vulgarization remains heavy and the vocabulary remains generic and nontechnical, so don't expect a university lecture.

The aerial drone images are impressive. Flying though the branches of majestic trees with a cinematic image quality was unfeasible before the advent of drones, and the movie delivers in that regard. (And keep an eye out for the film's biologist, hiding perched in the branches at vertiginous heights.)

Many of the scenes are also augmented with schematic-style animations. Some of it is excessive, like the awkward flocks of butterflies, but many animations were well-executed, such as seeing the roots of ancient trees as if our vision pierced the ground.

The film succeeds in giving us a general perspective on the age and complexity of rainforests. Their timescale is that of centuries, but they can be destroyed in a day : the message is clear.

helpful•8