The first reviews for the seamingly cynical new Netflix project, “Our Planet”, that charts the history of life on Earth have been released, and it’s said to change views more than the BBC documentary could ever do. Plus, legendary documentarian, David Attenborough wins critics in an unusual way.
“Our Planet” – reviews are looking good but can it generate a real change?
The bold Netflix project opens with it’s first episode of “Our Planet”, properly titled “One Planet,” and tries to explain how the Earth is actually a complex interlocking of several eco-systems, that depend one another.
“Our Planet” is both a series of depressing shots of death and destruction, and a picture of how much different species put heart into their daily lives. Many of the awe moments will be tinged with guilt, wonder with concern and entertainment with discomfort.
However this show might be the one to make you want to save the planet, instead of merely just reveling in its wonder.
If you’d watch the startling movie on mute, you’d get the feeling of a simple wildlife documentary, but entertainment and beauty aren’t the only objectives here, as it also comes with a wonderful narration that imparts its shots with a more complex emotional flavor.
Disappearing species, shrinking habitats, spreading diseases, accumulating pollutants, climate changes – “Planet Earth” hints at these problems in an indirect way with its closing line: “We can now destroy or we can cherish: The choice is ours.”
The documentary will launch on Friday, 5th of April, on Netflix, not on BBC as expected
The reason why BBC hasn’t been chosen for the broadcasting of the new series is that Netflix bakes this launch to 190 countries at the same time. And, importantly, it will be there for months and years.
The BBC still only has 30 days on iPlayer, it doesn’t simultaneously globally transmit. And a lot of people who watch Netflix are in the 16-30-year-old age group, the one that’s most likely to act upon the issues presented in “Planet Earth”.
The thing that makes the documentary’s storytelling so compelling is its cinematography. The shots are complex, the colors are vibrant and the editing surpases most of the productions of its kind.
Basically, this groundbreaking series depicts the beautiful but uncomfortable truth of what the Earth is going through and it eventually forces viewers to acknowledge their own complicity in the decline of nature.
