The Private Life of Plants [UK Import] [2 DVDs]

"The Private Life of Plants" von David Attenborough verdient vollstes Lob - sowohl für die sehr charmante Präsentation des Altmeisters des Naturfilms als auch für die tollen Filmaufnahmen, die von einer unendlichen Geduld und Erfahrung im Filmen schwieriger Motive zeugen. Wer einmal selbst versucht hat, im tropischen Regenwald mit seinen Widrigkeiten Pflanzen zu photographieren, wird dies umso mehr zu schätzen wissen. Natürlich werden hier nicht nur tropische Pflanzen vorgestellt, sondern nahezu alle Klimazonen, welche Pflanzen beherbergen, kommen zu Ihrem Recht. Die Zeitrafferaufnahmen der diversen Pflanzenaktionen sind erstaunlich und verlangten spezielle Tricks und Techniken, die meisterhaft umgesetzt wurden. Nach dieser Sendereihe wird sich für den Zuseher das Bild das er sich von diesen Wesen bisher gemacht hat, für immer verändert haben. Pflanzen sind nicht die stummen und passiven Dulder, als die sie uns so oft erscheinen, sondern die aktive Gestalter ihrer Umwelt und definitiv die Grundlage allen Lebens auf unserem Planeten.
Das fehlen einer deutschen Tonspur auf dieser DVD-Sammlung ist für jeden der auch nur einigermassen Englisch versteht, keinerlei Nachteil - im Gegenteil. Die Kommentare von David Attenborough sind stets sehr leicht verständlich und seine spezielle Art Dinge prägnant auszudrücken, trägt nicht unwesentlich zum Genuss dieser Filmreihe bei. Bedauerlich ist eigentlich nur, dass die Reihe lediglich aus 6 Teilen besteht. Wenn uns David Attenborough die Welt erklärt, könnte man ewig zusehen.

Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of Sir David Attenborough. His lifes achievement is something you just have to admire and I do hold him in the highest regards for that.
Therefore I acquired over the years a whole bunch of documentaries and spend thousands on them. Like everything else it has to be put in perspective.
And that being said I find this to be one of his lesser features.
Why is that?

- The facts are sometimes wrong, either because it just wasn't known at the time or because of lacking thoroughness. For example the Giant Sequoia is labeled the heaviest living creature on earth. Well, I doubt that anybody would not count fungi among the living organism. And there is one genetically identical mushroom in Oregon which stretches for about 2.400 acres, that is 1.665 football fields. In size as well as in body mass it dwarfs the Sequoia. Then a conifer tree is labeld the oldest organism on the face of the earth - about 4.000 yo. Funny thing is, in the documentary "Living planet", Sir D. Attenborough himself exclaimes a Cresote bush to be the oldest living thing and estimates it to be over 10.000 yo.
- And yes, even the Maestro himself is not without fault. In the section about the corals on the 2nd DVD I was shocked to see his behaviour. Someone like him should know better. As a scuba diver he paddels on the reef-top, holds on to the coral, stands up on the coral to explain something to us and then for good measure plunges back into the waves by pushing real hard off the coral. Then, to make it look very sportive, he paddles aggressively among the coral and with his fins breaks off the better part of a huge table corral. The bits and pieces that break off are clearly visible in his path. In short - he does pretty much everything wrong you are supposed to do as a responsible diver and thereby sets a bad example. Sorry to state this harsh critic, but it has to be said. By the way, his statement that coral must have light, is in it's absulteness wrong. It applies to the reef-building coral which do live in symbiosis with zooxanthella. But than there are many coral which do not fall under this category. Amonge those the best known might be the red coral, which is used for jewelry. It grows in utter darkness, upside down from a cave ceiling.
Still, I do love Attenborough in front of the camera, I really do. But then there is this scene with the bush fire. A mediocre small flame is in the grass and a little smoke. And just to prove how agile he is he runs through it. It looks childish and is a rather unfortunate scene. Nothing big, but there are just a few too many of those clunkers.
- Plants is a good topic. And while it was good footage and some of it even great, I must say I have seen better than that - it is not overwhleming like many other documentaries. Also the central theme is there - Plants - , but there is no coherence between the different sections. I had the impression it was footage from the vast stock they have, just thrown together. Very often from the island of the United Kingdom, than again from other parts of the world.

Sorry for listing just the negative. The positive is there as well.
Needless to say, it is fun to watch, very informativ. The sound and picture quality by the standard of the time is good. Nice 16:9 format, which spans nicely across the screen. Something which can not be said about some other productions, like "Life on Earth" for example.
But to be quite honest with you, this is the standard I do expect when I buy a D. Attenborough documentary. So I focused more on the bummers in the hope that you know what you get, but do not get deterred from buying this otherwise nice production.

Still, I don't regret having purchased this documentary. It is nice to watch and I would still recommend it. But one must be fair and rate it according to other productions which are out there and quite simply better than this. It would be unfair to "Earth", "Blue planet", "Planet Earth", "Sharkwater", "Yellowstone", "Pacific", etc. to rate this any higher.
If you want to buy an Attenborough maserpice I would recommend "Living Planet"- it's a piece of marvel and beauty.

David Attenborough hat mit "The Private Life of Plants" ein Meisterwerk von Dokumentation erstellt. Die Aufnahmen sind von sehr guter, gestochen scharfer Qualitaet.
Die Dokumentation bietet ein interessantes, biologisches Hintergrundwissen.
The Private Life of Plants ist ein muss fuer jeden Fan von Naturfilmen und bietet Unterhaltung fuer die Ganze Familie.