OCEANS

This is the 104 minutes of the most stupendous underwater film-work you will ever witness. From a rocket ship reflected in the orb of a marine iguana to the wave-skimming gambol of a pod of dolphins, Oceans takes in just that – the watery mysteries of planet Earth in its entirety. While the opening scene, which finds a young boy staring out to sea and wondering, ‘What is an ocean?’, as well as the somewhat hammy narration from Pierce Brosnan, both seem to suggest Oceans will end up languishing on the Family shelf of your local DVD store, the content and technical mastery of the camerawork points to pure Essential Viewing. Filmed by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud of Travelling Birds fame, their claim that their latest outing is not a documentary, but a ‘wildlife opera,’ is just about justified. (AB) ****