Home

This is a great documentary.

It's not new in terms of subject matter. It simply restates what Al Gore has already been reminding us since An Inconvenient Truth.

This film is similar, but not comparable with, Baraka, although Baraka was on a different level on its own. But Home is really commendable, especially in terms of cinematic consistency. It always maintains that feeling of grandeur, with vast, panoramic shots, and high-angle or bird's eye views, all meant to evoke "oohs" and "aahs" from the viewers, who are supposed to be reminded that we are measly, insignificant creatures in a complicated, biological web. Maintaining the high angles are possibly the filmmaker's way of showing us what God must feel like, looking down on his little menagerie.

Films like this would be very ideal for IMAX, as the vastness and scope of the images would just swallow you whole.

Minus points for the terrible grammar at the end titles. But then again, this is a French film. You can forgive the subject-verb agreement. It gets its point across, anyway.

*some info from IMDb

pic from guardian.co.uk

Home. France. 2009.

Original rating: Nine out of ten.

Lapses in subject-verb agreement: Minus half a point.

"We already know that" message: Minus half a point.

Final rating: Eight out of ten.