Onze Natuur

This is not a documentary. There are some visually stunning shots but there's no story at all. Some scenes make no sense. There's some things here that could be the start of something beautiful but this 'finished product' feels unfinished/rushed, as if at some point there was no more money and they had to make do to make a feature lenght movie. It's scenes stitched together. Some good, some far less good en a few very good. The close up shots are top quality, unfortunately some landscape shots are no better than daily news broadcast quality. The fact that the same shots are used multiple times during the film makes it all the worst. The lenght of the film seems to have been more important than the quality.

'Onze Natuur' demonstrates that nature documentaries don't always have to feature the biggest, strangest or most exotic animals. Showing you the animals that live right under your nose is special in a not so different way. 'Onze Natuur' was created with the intention to make people appreciate the nature that's right there and care for it, and it absolutely delivers in that aspect.

The documentary takes us through the four seasons and shows us the effects it has on the flora, but mostly fauna of Belgium in a compilation of +-5 minute long short stories featuring said flora and fauna. Apart from the larger stories it tells, there is an unbelievable wealth of shots, that are merely used as transitions. Every bit of footage looks breathtakingly beautiful. There's a review below that calls 'Onze Natuur' unfinished and blames it for lacking story. Neither of those things are true.

I am seriously nitpicking here, but here are a few tiny details that bothered me. They portray winter as harsh and snowy, while in reality Belgium gets about three weeks of snow every year. (didn't make this up, this comes from the KMI). The music, while overall really good, has a few moments where it is so bombastic that it slightly distracts from the visuals.

The commentary is strong, and takes a more playful approach than the traditional sober documentary style. For some people this might come over as odd, but I thought it was rather likeable.

In summary, 'Onze Natuur' is a documentary that really punches above its weight. Made by a fairly small production team, filmed in a small country with generally unimpressive fauna. And yet, despite all of that, it is able to show us the nature hidden in the out-of-hand labyrinth of ribbon development that Belgium is today.

'Onze Natuur' is an interesting piece of Belgian cinema: an ambitious attempt at creating a nature documentary in the vein of big international productions like Planet Earth and Our Planet, using only footage of our local flora and fauna.

The film certainly boasts a superb cinematography that delivers some stunning (and surprising) images of our nature. But there are some annoyances, that for me prevent it from being an unqualified success.

While I understand that the addition of a voice-over might have been necessary to reach a larger audience, the narration here was just way too saccharine for my taste. Not to mention the abrupt switch to a preachy closing statement that hits you over the head with the film's 'Big Message'. Also, I found the filmmakers' choice of Matteo Simoni as the narrator an odd one. He might be very popular as an actor, but he doesn't exactly prove himself to be the Belgian David Attenborough here. His pronunciation is less than impeccable, and his voice doesn't really have the 'gravitas' that the material requires.

Because of these grievances with the voice-over, I kept thinking that this experiment would have been even more interesting had they decided to make this a documentary in the style of Ron Fricke (Chronos, Baraka, Samsara). Those films famously do not employ any narration, allowing their wealth of striking images to speak for themselves. That way the viewer is allowed to make his own observations, form thematic connections, and look for meaning behind all the overwhelming beauty (and sometimes ugliness). Rather than having them spelled out to the audience, the themes and ideas of those films come through organically, which in turn makes them have a more lasting effect.

With a little more confidence in that strictly visual style of storytelling, this might perhaps have been a transcendent work of art. As it stands, 'Onze Natuur' is still an ambitious and visually groundbreaking project for Belgian cinema, just not the cinematic masterpiece I was longing for it to be.

It is clear from the start that "Onze Natuur" is a visual masterpiece. The footage is amazing, a lot of respect for the countless hours that the crew must have spent waiting for that unique 10 seconds that made it into the edit. The quality of the "action" scenes is that of a BBC or NatGeo.

The story takes us through the four seasons, all across Belgium. Chances are that a nature reserve or hiking area in your neighborhood are included. I really liked the diversity of locations covered.

The story itself is that of different species, some reoccurring in the story as seasons progress. Others are just short fragments and mentioned once. This sometimes gives the feeling that there was more to explore; then again, the footage used is amazing and the goal of the movie is not to zoom into a specific species but rather cover "all of our nature".

The voice over by Matteo Simoni is nice; the text is for audiences young and all, don't expect that all jokes are funny for all age ranges ;).

All in all this is an amazing experience. Highly recommended to everyone who wants to discover what lures in our fields, forests and cities when we humans are not there for a moment.

What is going on in Belgium? Cinema's are loaded with people wanted to see 3 flicks in particular all made 100% in Belgium, Close, Zillion and this flick.

No actors just a view into the animals and plants living in Belgium. And you think that could be boring, forget it. It is well written and edited in a way you are wanted to see how it goes with some animals returning in this flick.

Clocking in just under 90 minutes is just what this flick needs. If you watch it you are sucked into a ride that takes down your heartbeat and does makes your head empty. And by that I don't mean a no-brainer.

Perfect to watch with the whole family, exactly what I saw that night, eldery attending with their grandchildren, whole families, all ages....

Strange to see these days that a flick about nature brings people out of their homes....

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 0/5 Story 0/5 Comedy 0/5.