Wild things

>>Critters get down and dirty in the
sex-themed nature doc Animals in Love

by CHRISTOPHER SYKES

There is something curiously unsettling about seeing a rigid monkey penis on the big screen. No amount of morning coffee will ever prepare you for it, and to call it surreal would belittle the work of Dalí. Call me old fashioned, but some things are better left to the imagination. Or to the zoophiles.

Having said that, I feel obligated to point out my love of the animal kingdom. As with most Canadians who grew up without cable, I spent hours over the years enjoying the Hinterland Who’s Who public service announcements on the CBC. Toss me a flute and I’m sure I could play the tune. Those 60-second ads produced by Environment Canada are still used today because they perfectly played out their role—they informed the viewer of an animal and its habitat, and tossed in a couple of interesting facts along the way.

The same cannot be said for Animals in Love. Taking a less conventional approach, the film voyeuristically captures various species as they attempt to seduce their mates. The decision to shy away from a structured narration à la Who’s Who in favour of never-ending montage makes the film feel somewhat schizophrenic.

French director Laurent Charbonnier—who worked as a cinematographer on nature docs Winged Migration and The Last Trapper—gets his first shot at directing a feature and certainly can’t be faulted for lack of ambition: the crew spent 500 days shooting 170 different species on every continent except Antarctica.

The principal photography is, as one should expect from this type of film, stunning. The crew has gone to great lengths to capture the most minute sounds of the frolicking animals, and Philip Glass’s original soundtrack is adequate accompaniment.

Technically, the film is impressive, yet there is something missing. As much as I wanted to like it, it became clear that an 85-minute documentary about mating habits might be best left for our own species. It’s no March of the Penguins, but if you’re in the mood to look at some cute critters and can’t make it out to the Biodôme, this will scratch your itch.

Animals In Love opens
this Friday, May 16

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