Documentary:
The last truly untamed continent reveals many of its secrets in this superbly filmed and presented documentary series. The vast and formidable land mass of Antarctica, a world of extreme hostility, is, surprisingly, home to an abundance of life. Seals, penguins and gulls flock to the southern continent to mate and rear their young during the summer months, forming a rich, temporary ecosystem expertly documented.
David Attenborough has once again woven a tapestry of tales relating the exploits and survival strategies of plant and animal species specially adapted to life in this unrelenting environment. A master narrator, without peer, Attenborough manages to hold and captivate his audience throughout this six part series as he explores the lifestyles of a wide variety of organisms and the icy stage upon which the drama of their lives is lived out.
From tiny mites who survive being encased in ice throughout the winter with the aid of anti freeze in their cells, to giant humpback whales, filmed for the first time in the process of using rising, spiraling columns of air bubbles to catch krill, one cannot help but marvel at the seemingly inexhaustible number and variety of methods life has found to invade and flourish in every available space. The resilience of life is simply breathtaking.
Most surprising of all are those animals which remain in Antarctica throughout the winter. The weddell seal survives the bitter cold (seventy degrees below zero) and fierce winds (over a hundred miles an hour) by keeping open, holes in the ice. The water beneath the ice is a comparatively mild, one and a half degrees below zero, and it is in this warmer water, that the weddell seal passes the greater part of its time during the coldest months. It is also beneath the ice, through one of these holes that one of the intrepid photographers caught on film some of the most hauntingly beautiful images ever to be seen. The sublime, evocative shapes the ice forms beneath the surface, and the unique lifeforms that inhabit these underwater, underice depths seem otherworldly, almost spooky.
But the prize for sheer audacity in the face of hardship must go to that, perhaps oddest of all birds, the emperor penguin. Standing at just over a meter tall, the emperor penguin is the only bird not to build a nest, its egg is laid directly onto the ice, from which it must be rapidly scooped up by the male to prevent freezing. It is kept by him in a special brood pouch at a temperature seventy degrees higher than the outer environment while the female goes off to sea to feed. What is so remarkable about the emperor penguin is that it finds a mate and breeds not at the onset of warm weather, but at the beginning of winter, in contrast to every other animal found in the Antarctic. It is a memorable image, that of all the males huddled together beneath the arora australis in the deep cold, awaiting the return of spring, the sun and their mates.
Special features:
There are no extras other than subtitles in this package, but it is fair to say that they are not needed as the sixth and final episode, as well as looking briefly at the history of human exploration on the southern continent, reveals some of the many innovations necessary behind the scenes in the creation of this excellent series. Menus are very user friendly. Subtitles available in English.
Overall:
A must have for all nature documentary enthusiasts, (and after all who isn’t one?).