REVIEW
‘ David Attenborough : A Life on Our Planet ’ Review : Ruin and Regrowth
Natalia Winkelman
Current Address : The New York Times Reprinted From : https :// nyti . ms / 37I1aJe
The majestic documentary “ David Attenborough : A Life on Our Planet ” opens with its title subject standing in a deserted location . It ’ s the territory around the Chernobyl nuclear plant , a once buzzing area that was evacuated after human error rendered it uninhabitable . Only later will the directors , Alastair Fothergill , Jonnie Hughes and Keith Scholey , pull their camera back to reveal that the territory , in its vacancy , has grown into a lush wildlife paradise .
Calling the film ( streaming on Netflix ) his “ witness statement ” for the environment , David Attenborough goes on to trace his more than 60-year career as a naturalist , mapping how steeply the planet ’ s biodiversity has degenerated before him . Global air travel was new when he began his work , and footage of him as a young producer encountering exotic flora and fauna lends a moving , even haunting , note to his plea to restore ecological balance .
Astonishing nature photography accompanies his retrospective . To illustrate the emptying of oceans , the directors intercut thriving coral habitats with images of large gutted fish , frozen and stacked for the market . Equally upsetting is the loss of rain forests , showcased through the stark cutoff between flourishing vegetation and uniform rows of oil palms planted for profit . Such cinematic juxtapositions are persuasive : A dying planet is an ugly one , while healthy ecosystems please the eye and the earth .
The most devastating sequence finds Attenborough charting the disasters we face in future decades — global crises that he , as a man now in his 90s , will not experience . Yet he finds hope by extrapolating small successes . Sustainable farming in the Netherlands has made the country one of the worldwide leaders in food exports . Fishing restrictions around the Pacific archipelago nation of Palau enabled marine life to rebound . The film ’ s grand achievement is that it positions its subject as a mediator between humans and the natural world . Life cycles on , and if we make the right choices , ruin can become regrowth .
Video : https :// youtu . be / 64R2MYUt394
Figure 1 : The naturalist David Attenborough in the documentary “ A Life on Our Planet .” ( Netflix )
Grassroots Vol 20 No 4 December 2020 46