Gunda

This is a superb piece of filmmaking that gives the viewer a real insight in to the lives of pigs and cows on higher welfare farms and of free to roam hens. No one who watches this film could doubt the sentience of its subjects or their individuality. The incredibly devoted mother pig at the centre of this film and a one legged hen are exhibits A and B in this regard. Sound is used to particularly good effect, both in the capture of the farm and country noises and in the complete absence of any commentary. The black and white footage adds to the beauty of the piece but I can't help thinking that the complete absence of colour ultimately detracts a little from an otherwise wholly authentic film. The film may not turn you into a vegetarian or a vegan but for me it surely supports an argument that particularly in the rich developed world all animals should be raised to at least "freedom food" standards and that its an indictment of modern society that some of the richest countries have the poorest animal welfare standards.

...although more of the story of the chickens and cows life would have balanced it better.

Many informative reviews here already, hence I wanted to add some facts I looked up afterwards, also as some here got it wrong, but I won't as I don't like spoilers. You find every question which (hopefully) pops up afterwards by doing a quick search.

I'll only leave a good note I liked from AccidentalSmallHolder net ehich addresses something you'll (hopefully) also think about afterwards:

"If pig keeping isn't for you, please do the next best thing and source your pork, bacon and sausages from ethically reared pigs. If it doesn't say the pigs are born and reared outdoors, they probably weren't so don't be fooled by misleading labelling. Even pigs that are reared outdoors may have been born to sows kept indoors, in crates, so do be aware of labelling - it's more about what it doesn't say, than what it does."

Looks like this film sometimes can't decide what it wants itself to be. Overall, it uses a highly poetic language with desaturated picture and "commercial" outlook with long dolly shots, wide angles and slow motion. At the same time, it always tends to be on animals' eyes level, depicting some of the unpleasant and cruel aspects of their life. However, it seems that camera is sometimes shy about what it sees, notably putting pig's back out of focus in final scene - which inevitably drives us to a conclusion that it's the human look on the animal, even if there's not a single human in frame. Surprisingly, the most coherent and touching part of three isolated novels is the one about chicken - particularly because of non-intrusive and highly tactile camera work.

Gunda stays somewhere between brutal realism of life and romantic pamphlet against cruelty to animals, mixing together two incompatible aesthetic approaches. However, a film like this had to be made, and I hope it will influence other filmmakers to experiment with storytelling from an animal point of view.

At first, we can't grasp what we are seeing, and it takes a while to sink in. Throughout the film, both beauty and reality will often rise up to temporarily disorient, take our breath away, and even overwhelm.

This is not your cute animal film, though it has that too. It's more akin to those moments of serenity and joy that can arise when we are watching babies move or small children explore. We feel both intimacy and otherness, and perhaps even bewilderment.

In my imagination it doesn't seem impossible that this film could be nominated for awards beyond Best Documentary. It would need its own version of Script Writing, Choreography, Directing, Editing, and Producing.

But the Cinematography! Obviously it's often spontaneous and even seat-of-the-pants. Somehow there is an endless outpouring of breath-taking photographic moments in high-resolution black and white. Will there be a picture book?

It's not that the shots are a miracle of technique; I'm sure they are. It's more how they touch such a wide range of feeling. A world is created and then ...

Like the beginning, the ending takes a while to sink in. Hushed. Eye and heart, conscience and consciousness, awakened.

IN BRIEF: A well-made but slow moving pig's tale.

JIM'S REVIEW: (RECOMMENDED) A pig and her litter, a one-legged chicken, and some cows are the main cast in this fine documentary, Gunda, Viktor Kosakovskiy's understated cinematic plea for animal rights.

Gunda is an enormous sow that has just given birth to a dozen small piglets. This is their story of life down on the farm. Call me a city boy, but the film depicts the daily mundane weeks in this pig's heaven (or hell) and I have chosen the right lifestyle for me. Still, it is a fascinating place to visit.

There are no voiceovers, no sweeping musical score, no Disney sentimentalizing... just straight-forward filming of natural country events. There are many grunts, squeals, and moos to be heard and lots of mud and flies buzzing around too.

This is a well-made documentary that tries to convey an animal's everyday existence. The wonderful sound design by Alexander Dudarev immerses the moviegoer into this rarely-seen animal kingdom. The masterful b&w photography by Egil Håskjold Larsen and the director is stunning with its low-level point of view and detailed close-ups of farm critters.

However, the story seems non-existent and Mr. Kosakovskiy lets scenes go on for far too long, at a turtle's pace, although none of those creatures are in sight. The documentary does eventually build to its subtle message about the cruelty of our food chain, but any astute moviegoer knows the fate of our little dirty dozen from the start. (A side note: All of our violent deeds are strongly implied, but mercifully not shown.) I could say there is much food for thought in this documentary, but then I would be called insensitive or callous. Let's just say, this film deserves your attention. (GRADE: B-)