Whispers in the Woods – Film Review
by Frank L.

Original title: Le chant des forêts

Director – Vincent Munier
Stars – Michel Munier, Simon Munier, Vincent Munier

Michel Munier, the father of the director Vincent, is a naturalist who has a lifelong knowledge of the Vosges Forest in Eastern France. Michel loves and respects its flora and fauna, which make it a sanctuary from the constant clamour and destructiveness of mankind and his rapaciousness. Vincent’s own son, Simon, is a teenager, and Vincent shows how his father, Michel, introduces Simon to the wonder of the natural order of the forest and its inhabitants. The delights are many – deer, proud with antlers protruding, wade through a stretch of water, two stags clash horns, a lynx observed with its prey, an owl peering out of an aperture and three fluffy chicks make their entrance into a new world, while a spider’s web shows that abstraction is not limited to the world of art.

But to observe these delights, Michel instructs Simon on the importance of silence and stillness. However, the forest and its inhabitants are under constant threat. Many species are disappearing or have disappeared. Man’s unthinking activities such as flying are wreaking havoc on numerous habitats. One casualty already is the magnificently plumed bird, the caillebotte. It has already fled the Vosges but endures in Norway. So the three Muniers travel to Norway in the hope against hope that they might sight it.

The cinematography is intimate in relation to the conversations between Michel and Simon: age and youth meet in harmony. But it is intimate also with the animals as they go about their daily tasks. We are privileged observers of their way of life. In addition, there is a complementary soundtrack which increases the wonder of what we are to observe.

This is a contemplative documentary and proclaims a fine understanding that can exist between age and youth, but also the need for all ages to respect the world in which we live. It is beautiful and uplifting.