Despite how much he apparently dislikes the term "national treasure", that term really does sum up David Attenborough to a tee. He is such a great presenter (in his 90s and still sounds, and looks on a side note, great) and whenever a new series of his is aired they are often among the best the BBC has done in years.
Attenborough has done so many treasures over his long and remarkably consistent career (even his lesser work is still good) that picking a favourite is not easy. 'Frozen Planet' is one of those treasures, perhaps not as ground-breaking as something like 'Life on Earth' but it left me in the same amount of awe as when watching that series, both 'Planet Earth' series and 'Blue Planet' (am loving the second series too). It is a shame that despite being one of IMDb's highest rated shows, the ratings here for each episode individually has such a wide divide between them and that for the show overall. To me, the series overall is wholly deserving of its acclaim and the individual episodes are rated far too low.
"Spring" is every bit as fabulous as the first episode "To the Ends of the Earth". Said in my review for 'Frozen Planet' that it transfixed, fascinated, moved and educated me more than any other documentary seen in a long time and is an example of how documentaries should be done. Still stand by that. Likewise with saying that one forgets they're watching a documentary and instead feeling like they're watching art.
Visually, like all the 'Frozen Planet' episodes and all of Attenborough's work, "Spring" looks wonderful. It is gorgeously filmed, done in a completely fluid and natural, sometimes intimate (a great way of connecting even more with the animals), way and never looking static. In fact much of it is remarkably cinematic. The polar region scenery is some of the most breath-taking personally seen anywhere, whether in visual media and real life. Particularly loved the images of the hunting polar bears, the narwhals and the sea gooseberries. And of course, anything that involves any kind of penguin is enough to make my heart melt. The behind the scenes stuff gives a touch of honesty and humanity.
George Fenton's music score soars majestically, rousing the spirits while touching the soul. It not only complements the visuals but enhances them to a greater level, only over-egging things a little in the albatross scene. Some of my favourite work from him in fact, coming from someone who's liked a lot of what he's done. The main theme is unforgettable.
Can't fault the narrative aspects in "Spring" either. There are things already known to me, still delivered with a lot of freshness, but there was a lot that was quite an education and after watching the full series it honestly felt like the series taught me a lot (and no it's not just the Latin names for the animals), much more so than anything in my secondary school Geography class. Attenborough's narration helps quite significantly too, he clearly knows his stuff and knows what to say and how to say it. He delivers it with his usual richness, soft-spoken enthusiasm and sincerity, never talking down to the viewer and keeping them riveted and wanting to know more.
The animals are both adorable and dangerous, the penguins being an example of the former and the polar bears the latter. It's not just the animals, also the winds are like characters of their own and actually the way they're described and depicted here makes them scarier than most of the predatory animals featured in the series. The scene with the behind-the-scenes crew stranded and how it's affecting them makes one feel bad if they've ever complained of hating their job or having to take a freezing cold shower or something like that.
Loved the polar bear, sea gooseberries and narwhals scenes, the penguins are adorable (when are they not) and the behind-the-scenes segment is the most harrowing one of the series. Also really admired the albatross scene, visually beautiful and fascinating, like the young albatross' feet not touching the ground for five years.
Nothing episodic or repetitive here. Instead, it feels like its own individual story with real, complex emotions and conflicts and animal characters developed in a way a human character would in a film but does it better than several.
In short, another wonderful instalment. 10/10 Bethany Cox
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