Life in the Arctic

A BAFTA award nominated Russian film looking at life in their harsh Arctic environment.

This is quite an interesting documentary showcasing some fine underwater photography of the flora and fauna that dwell deep beneath the Arctic ice. From shrimps, fish and side-walking crabs to frolicking seals and colourful plants, the camera captures some quite natural images of these waters that are infinitely more alive than the land just a few meters above them. We also spend quite a bit of time up there too, with seals and their pups nestling on the ice - an expanse that goes on, uninterrupted, as far as their eyes can sea and worryingly, that also enables them to spot the odd polar bear too, so they better scarper into the safety of the water before it picks up their scent. There's quite a menacing little pursuit cut together that shows this bear is quite adept in the water, too - don't go betting on the winner! Meantime, there's some hibernating going on too whilst the winds howl across the tundra - a least the mother bear is trying to get some well earned kip. Her cub has more lively ideas and is clambering over her like she's a fur-lined bouncy castle. There are also lively colonies of penguins and other fish-feeders, perched precariously on the sheer cliffs and precision deep-diving for their lunch whilst eagles circle round espying a vulnerable egg or chick for their own - and there's some impressive close up footage of these apex predators flexing their enormous wings. We are here for most of the year, so as the summer thaw sets in there's plenty of life as new generations of bears and foxes pepper the now plant-strewn terrain hungry for some spawning salmon. There's even a stampede of walruses! The photography, and the animal's reactions, also gives us an idea as to the sheer brilliance of the unfiltered light and adds quite significantly to the feeling of eeriness and frigidity as the floes glide across the few stretches of unfrozen water. Technically, sometimes the focus isn't the best, but otherwise if you dubbed Winston Hibler's voice onto this, it could easily pass for an equivalent Disney natural history film that let's the imagery do it's own talking across the seasons in this remote wilderness.