"Migrating Birds" is the last in the famous French director Jacques Behan's documentary trilogy "Heaven, Earth and People", which was released in Paris on December 12, 2001, and quickly attracted widespread praise around the world, and won many awards such as the 2003 Academy Award for Best Documentary, the 27th César Awards for Best Editing and Best Music.
The film depicts the difficult migration of various migratory birds in order to survive with realistic and rustic lenses, as well as the courage, wisdom and emotion they show in flying for the paradise of their dreams.
In "Migrating Birds", aerial wide-angle shots follow the wings of migratory birds, from the romantic Seine River in France, to the Statue of Liberty at the Hudson Estuary in New York, to the majestic Great Wall, the endless deserts of Africa, the rainforests of the Amazon River... The magnificent stages of forest rivers and mountains and ice valleys are presented, and the unparalleled natural scenery is mesmerizing, and almost every frame can be edited and embedded in the frame.
"Migrating Birds" is a miracle in the history of world photography, it pioneered the definition of the world's top documentary "to get the truth" standard - it took 4 years, cost more than 40 million US dollars, more than 600 people participated in the shooting, used 17 of the world's best pilots and two scientific expeditions, attractions in more than 50 countries and regions in 175 natural scenes, shooting more than 460 kilometers of original film... The beautiful picture and the unique European romantic temperament of the natural sound bring the audience unparalleled audiovisual enjoyment.
The language of the shot is clean and simple, only the fluttering wings of different kinds of birds, they fly over the infinite mountains, the vast plains of brilliant colors, the ancient castles of Europe, the raging sea and the endless desert. The most spectacular shot is set against the backdrop of the entire earth, and at a rotating angle, the blue ocean and brown land are reflected, and a large group of white birds is clearly seen moving slowly. Using such a straightforward lens to interpret an insignificant bird being placed in a large scene of thousands of kilometers, what is shocking after watching it is the spirit of perseverance of migratory birds during the great migration, perhaps like the voiceover at the beginning of the film. "Bird migration is a story of promise, a promise of return. Thousands of kilometers of journey through crisis, only for one purpose - to survive. "It's a fight for life.
The story focuses on the journey of migratory birds moving south and north, telling how migratory birds overcome the natural environment, find the right direction in the wind and sand, how to protect themselves in the ice and snow, and how to hunt in the vast ocean.
The music of the film is very pure, humming in the magnificent melody, accompanied by the flight of birds under the long lens, from time to time, from weak to strong. The film uses sound to give these migratory birds an awe-inspiring power, rendering the sacred atmosphere. The song of different birds has been flowing in the film, which is very real and delicate. When you watch the film, you will think that you are in a flock of birds, listening to their rich language so close. It is strange that listening to the birdsong, the heart will also become quiet.
Birds Migrating is a quiet film that captures countless species of migratory birds that are struggling to fly, feeding and frolicking from beginning to end. There is only a few narrations, and occasionally subtitles flow out:
Migratory birds use the sun and stars to discern directions, are sensitive to the Earth's magnetic field like a compass, and consistently travel between different latitudes.
Migratory birds from Europe, who have gone through the hardships of gathering in the Arctic and then making nests. Soon, the bird is born, and over time, new life will follow its parents on the first migration of its lifetime.
Summer in the Arctic is extremely short, and soon the Arctic will enter the eternal night, the autumn migration is about to begin, the young birds have just learned to fly, they are about to set off for the tropics, without pre-study and without exploration, they can indeed reach destinations thousands of miles away. Migratory birds usher in a new spring, and the air return route is busy again, continuing the eternal theme of the promise of migration.
Although it is a documentary, it is completely without the usual dull feeling of documentaries, bringing people a pleasing scenery, meticulous migratory birds, and the most evocative is the background music with a little aura in the magnificent momentum, which makes people feel as if they are immersed in the scene and breathtaking.
Under the blue sky and white clouds are flocks of white-fronted black geese, from the vast European plains, across the vast ocean, to Greenland; the clean lake, is the elegant swan; the silence in the snow is the red-crowned crane" "These beautiful birds in the journey, there is the loneliness of the empty landscape, there is the crowding of high-rise long bridges, under their wings are endless plains, some are vast oceans, some are yellow sand deserts, and some are cold snowy mountains. However, whenever night falls, the dream music that does not seem to belong to the human world sounds, and the birds at this moment are more like pure mortal spirits, resting quietly, waiting for the dawn, waiting for the first rays of light to shine, and start the journey again.
Some of the birds on the journey are full of energy and do not give up day and night; others are moving and staying, struggling to advance towards distant destinations. The most desperate and difficult thing is the Eurasian grey crane, like a hunched old man with wind and frost, with vicissitudes and helplessness, suspended in the air, continuing to complete the promise of return and complete the continuation of this life. With an exotic atmosphere, Edward's big grouse, with a flam-like tail, a wide chest, and even a rhythmic rumba. The most afraid of the single, looking for the figure, the music of Xiao Ser sounded, it waddled down the slope, and the tears were about to burst out. The most romantic is the love of birds on the way to migration, and the long neck forms the most beautiful heart shape, representing eternal romance and commitment. The most surprising avalanche was the one that the migratory birds that stopped on the island were buried in the snow after a late flight.
Even if there are avalanches, even if there are storms, even if there is a desert, the only thing that cannot be resisted is the joy of seeing the first birth, a small, snow-like body hidden in the mother's side, playing freely, this is hope, not only birds, but also human beings, or the hope of this world, nature.
The most comfortable shot is the cuteness of the migratory birds when they roost. In the childish sound, the migratory birds either play in the water, or chase, or step on light dance steps, or shyly court. The two birds pecked at each other, and the sound of snapping was like a brisk drum. When the birds are fishing, they slap on the surface of the water, and with the fierce drum beats, the picture of fishing is like a unique and wonderful dance. The most intimate shot is of a migratory bird flying to the Arctic and giving birth to a birdlet, in the midst of a lively female voice humming, a little swan suddenly emerges from under the feathers of its mother lying on the ground, chirping; A white-spotted blackbird swam on the surface of the water with two newborn birds, and the little guy looked at the surface comfortably; The yellow-billed swan couple has four baby swans sandwiched between them, and a family of six swims gracefully on the water. A small bird tried to climb on its mother's back, but it slid down again and again. A chubby yellow-eyed, yellow-beaked bird walked forward in a cute manner, its close-up of looking at the camera with its yellow eyes open, silly and cute. I watched this passage of footage many times, watching the bird's family stay together warmly, there are infinite gentle emotions gushing out: in the world of birds, there is also love, there is affection, and among the emotions that human beings can experience, birds also have.
Do you think you only need to fly non-stop to get where you want to go? Of course not. The number of migratory birds that migrate each year is huge, but only a part of them actually reach their destinations. On the way to migration, they walk through muddy swamps, fly over mountains, cross rivers, move forward in the fierce sea breeze, or tired in industrial areas full of sewage to rest a little, encounter blizzard weather, never stay, only want to fly to where they want to go, although they do not stop flying, they will still encounter all kinds of unexpected, natural or man-made reasons, so that the birds on the way to migrate more or less lose a part, the remaining birds, and then fly forward, flying to where they want to go.
Director Jacques Behan once said: "Flying for birds is not a pleasure imagined by people, but a struggle for survival." They have to cross the clouds and face the storm, and many difficulties are beyond our imagination. ”
The journey is long and helpless---- which requires tenacity and perseverance not to look back. It's a matter of survival, hard and brutal.
Damage from the sand crab: On the west coast of Africa, a bird with folded wings rushes from place to place, and at its side is a group of sand crabs that are staring at it and ready to pounce on it. From Europe to Africa, after nine deaths, although it is about to die in the mouth of the crab, it has fulfilled its promise of return...
Damage from the Skua: With the help of the Atlantic Circulation, the penguin family that has migrated 1,000 kilometers is happy. However, the hateful skua has its eye on the baby penguin. Penguin Mom and Dad fight desperately with the skua, trying to protect their children. However, the camera turns and the skua's long blood-stained beak is a metaphor for everything. The mother penguin looked up to the sky silently for a long time, and this scene made the audience's sad emotions linger in her arms...
Hurt from humans: In the music of Leng Sensen, a huge harvester roars from afar, a close-up of a lonely young bird in the grass, which foolishly does not know what is going to happen, and the harvester has come over.
A row of birds are flying freely in the wind. Suddenly, piercing gunshots rang out, and birds fell into the river from the sky like broken kites. The sound of sorrow brought the audience a heaviness that could not be relieved for a long time...
A caged Canada goose watched its companion in the sky fly into the distance, its dark eyes behind the barbed wire were filled with sadness.
In the desperate music, a group of red-breasted geese fly over the heavily polluted city, under them is a huge chimney, a gray city, ducks hiding from the city, breathing in the thick fog of the factory, and finally sinking into the quagmire of the factory...
Such a scene makes almost everyone have to torture their own hearts, even their souls. We might be thinking about the question: If there were no more bird wings across the sky, would there still be such vividness in our eyes?
The first sentence at the beginning of the film is shocking: birds have ruled the sky, the sea and the land for 80 million years. It is based on the reverence for all things in nature that Jacques Behan said: "The feeling between man and animal is a need of mankind, which makes us feel the miracle of the existence of life, the wonderful induction and connection between living things." All living things are the masters of the earth. ”
Perhaps it is the noise of society, or the heaviness of life, which makes us forget that all living things are the masters of the earth, forget to look at things with ourselves, and unite things and things, but instead put ourselves above all things.
"Migratory Birds" awakens the telepathy between us and all things that have been sleeping in our hearts for a long time, allowing us to rediscover the long-lost sense of equality, compassion and humanistic spirit.
A flock of geese flew over the sea, and for the weak they were too vast to see the end, but an aircraft carrier on the surface of the sea provided them with a short rest. Exhibits of military competition between countries, the coldest iron guys provide the warmest roost on the sea. A short break gave these tired lives extraordinary significance, and many birds died of exhaustion during the flight because they could not get it. The cold weapon that could take lives in an instant saved this weak creature.
A gray-blue macaw imprisoned by humans, with wisdom, opened the closed cage door with its long beak, successfully escaped, and once again soared freely in the white clouds and blue sky.
The little boy found the gray goose entangled in the pond fishing net, hesitated, jumped into the pond and cut the fishing net to release the gray goose. The gray goose, which has a fishing net line on its foot, reappears several times in subsequent shots of the north and south returns, and at the end of the film, the big birds return to the river, and the eye-catching thing is that the foot is wrapped in a net. The little boy had been waiting for a long time, and he ran happily to meet the birds that had migrated back. In the expectation of the little boy, they meet in the fish pond at the beginning of the film. It shows that because of the existence of love, birds and humans can love each other in harmony.
The old woman carried a bucket of food and prepared to feed the Eurasian grey crane flying north, but before she could get closer, the Eurasian grey crane flew in surprise. The Eurasian grey crane returned to the south and flew to the old woman's room again, and when the old woman bent down and stretched out her hand to feed the geese, the Eurasian grey crane pecked at the food in the old woman's hand with confidence, and a feeling of warmth and awe suddenly emerged. Although birds and humans do not speak the same language, if they have good intentions, they can still achieve spiritual communication. If we can all bend down, look at every life in an equal or humble manner, and communicate with them with our hearts, we can achieve true harmony.
Everything in the world is the work of the Creator, and all living things can share the earth equally.
"Migrating Birds" brings us aesthetic pictures, unparalleled audiovisual enjoyment, and behind the ultimate artistic charm, it is full of human and natural, human and animal, human and self, thinking about freedom, equality and redemption. Fear nature, be kind to life, and keep your promises. Birds are born like this, and life should be more so.
The story behind the success
The Jacques Behan film crew spent four years shooting the film.
The journey of 100,000 kilometers involved a film crew of more than 300 people, including more than 50 pilots and more than 50 ornithologists. In the first year, they basically did not shoot, but just followed the birds around, and mixed with these birds so well that the birds were no longer alert to them.
Director Jacques Behan revealed that in order to obtain the most real and beautiful moments, they used the Nobel Laureate Lawrence's theory of "remembering the phenomenon" - there are many species of birds just hatched, the first creature seen in front of them, the sound heard, will be recognized as their mother, even if it is a human, machine. Therefore, these birds, who have grown up with camera equipment since birth, regard the aircraft as flying companions, and there will be no more fear, vigilance and hiding.
Starting the second year of shooting, they used tools such as powered umbrellas, small airplanes, and model airplanes with hidden cameras the size of birds, fixed special lenses in a probe and reached far to shoot. At the same time, they also domesticated a group of wild birds as extras for filming parrots breaking free of cages and scenes on aircraft carriers and factories.
To add a story behind the film: in this film, there are two "bird deaths" scenes:
The shot of the birds being hunted was filmed in Canada. One bird is recognized as a pest bird in the local area, and in order to protect the environment, the local government allows the killing of such birds. After shooting this set of shots, the photographer burst into tears.
Faced with a wounded bird surrounded by sand crabs, the film crew rescued it and found a piece of carrion to shoot the scene of the sand crab feasting.