HOME – The stunning and disturbing environmental documentary by Yann Arthus Bertrand
Most famous for his stunning aerial photos of the Earth, the French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand turns to the cinema with his new environmental movie HOME, released worldwide on World Environment Day, June 5, and seen by millions of people since.
This visually dramatic film is well worth seeing, both for its images and its environmental message, despite its somewhat didactic voice-over in the rather traditional documentary style of the past. The first ever movie with 100% aerial footage, it illustrates the planet's fragile state entirely from a birds-eye view in stunning high definition. With spectacular aerial views from over 50 countries in all the continents , viewers can see the extent of human impact in every corner of our 'home' planet. A theme expressed throughout the documentary is that of linkage and inter-dependence: how all organisms and the Earth and all its elements are linked in a delicate balance with each other, and how this balance established over millions of years is being irreversibly altered in a very short time (in particular over the last 50 years) by irresponsible human behaviour. The purpose of the film is to raise consciousness on how crucial the diversity of life on Earth is, and how our current way of life is threatening the ecological balance of the planet. And it incites us to take action before it is too late.
As he has already proved, Arthus-Betrand is a master at identifying the colours, angles and patterns that show the Earth at its most beautiful. These same skills are brought to bear in HOME, but this time the images are moving and have a clear message: the Earth, the place we call home, is in trouble, and we are largely responsible
Beautiful aerial photography, an omnipresent music score and great post-production make this movie more interesting and more emotional than most previous movies about the subject, but it is also a film with the disturbing urgent message of our planet's destruction. Still,the movie ends by highlighting examples of initiatives that might yet save us from self-destruction, such as Costa Rica’s redirection of funds away from a military force into education, eco-tourism and the protection of primary resources, or Denmark’s investment in renewable energy sources. As the film maker himself says « It's too late to be a pessimist - action is needed. »
The making of Home
It took Yann Arthus Bertrand, his producer Luc Besson and his team almost 3 years to make the film, which was originally called 'Boomerang' but was renamed 'Home' during the making, after the scenario was completed. The cameraman TanguyThuaud did 217 days of shooting from helicopters in 54 countries and 120 locations using a Gyro-stabilised Cineflex HD camera , under the constant supervision of Arthus Bertrand. Then the editor, Yen Le Van, managed to cut down a total of 488 hours of footage into a 90-minute visual experience , which is accompanied by a commentary full of facts and figures, narrated by Jacques Gambin in the French version and Glenn Close in the English version.
Additionally, the movie has an exceptional and haunting original music score written by Armand Amar and recorded with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and the Shanghai Percussion Ensemble.
A very interesting 35- minute documentary about the making of the film has been made in French (« Le Tournage ») and can be seen on the internet on www. première.fr. It includes several interviews with Yann Arthus Bertrand himself and other members of the team, and provides good insight on the difficulties of making such an original movie from the air, as well as on the character and motivation of the Director;
It should be noted that the carbon emissions for the making of the movie were offset by financing a project for diffusion of anaerobic digesters in India , through Action Carbone, a programme set up by GoodPlanet, an environmental organisation founded by Yann Arthus Bertrand in 2005.
Simultaneous worldwide distribution for free
Apart from being a unique and very expensive documentary to make, HOME is also a unique and ambitious film distribution project. Right from the start , it was decided by Arthus-Bertrand and his producers that it should be released free of charge and worldwide, in different formats, in order to reach as many people as possible. To make this possible, the film was sponsored by the PPR Group of companies.
For such project, the premiere had to be a special event. The movie was released simultaneously on June 5th in cinemas and outdoor events all over the world, on DVD and on YouTube. Released on the same date in 50 countries is a world record for any film release in history. The film is available 100% free, and no profits will be made from its release or future showings. Arthus Bertrand has relinquished all rights to the film. On the night of the release many theatres offered screenings for free and a giant open-air screening in Paris in the Champ-de-Mars under the Eiffel Tower attracted 20 000 spectators. The simultaneous TV broadcast of the movie on France 2 TV channel that night drew more than 8 million viewers .Since then it has been shown at film festivals and at many cinemas worldwide. A high definition version can be seen for free on You Tube (400MB Stream), and it can be downloaded free from the official HOME website www.home-2009.com as well as many other sites, both in the French and the English versions
More about Yann Arthus Bertrand
Yann Arthus Bertrand is well known for his aerial photography. In 1991 he founded the Altitude Agency which was the world’s first press agency and images bank specialised in aerial photography (500,000 pictures taken in more than 100 countries by more than 100 photographers).
Arthus-Bertrand became famous through his photographic study on the state of the Earth started in 1994 and sponsored by UNESCO. He made a picture inventory of the world’s most beautiful landscapes taken from helicopters and balloons. The book from this project, Earth from Above (‘la Terre vue du ciel’) sold over 3 million copies and was translated into 24 languages.
Following the success of the book, his "Earth from Above" free exhibition was set up on several big posters on the gates of the Jardins du Luxembourg in Paris in 2000. It then travelled worldwide from Lyon to Montreal, to 110 cities and was visited by 120 million people. In 2008, "Earth from Above"was released on DVD.
In 2005 Arthus- Bertrand founded the international environmental organisation GoodPlanet, and set up the program Action Carbone to offset his own greenhouse gas emissions generated by his helicopter transports. Since then this program has evolved to help people and companies to reduce and offset their climate impact by funding projects on renewable energies, energy efficiency and reforestation.
Film Review by Joanna Tachmintzis
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